The Point of No Return
by Sealgirl
Summary: COMPLETE! Venger’s back and he’s out for revenge on the Young Ones. But in the Mystical and deadly city of Ur, they are all going to have to struggle to survive!
1. Decisions, Decisions

DISCLAIMER: The D&D lot aren't mine. But what they do, and the other bits are!

STORY: Set after the episode "Cave of the Faerie Dragons." And there are no references to other writings AT ALL! Well, only teeny tiny ones…  
And this is the Series 3 Finale in the Sealgirl D&D-verse. Season 4 (the last) will start on the first of November, after a 4 month break.

RATING: PG13.

CREDITS: A few quotes from "The Magic Roundabout" have crept in, and perhaps some refs to the Fighting Fantasy books, if you can spot them.

THANKS: Many thanks to Whiteveils for the feedback and taking an interest in these stories, and to Kryschenn for the museum ref!

* * *

The Point of No Return

Chapter 1

Decisions, Decisions.

_Why long had it taken so long, this time?_

Venger, the great Arch-Mage of the Realm, listened to Shadow Demon's report with growing rage. Everything he had worked so hard to create all these years was slowly being destroyed. _Those children…_ he could not understand how these six, insignificant, little children had managed to accomplish so much. So much had changed, so many of his allies were gone, even the Darkling! These favoured six, the star pupils of the old man, had _still_ not been defeated!

In the silence, Venger slowly realised that Shadow Demon had stopped talking, and was watching him. Though that creature had no face with which to form an expression, Venger knew it well enough to recognise when it was being insolent!

He glared at it.

'And what of Varen?'

'King Varen has fled, master,' hissed Shadow Demon. 'Without the gold of the Fairie Dragons, he could no longer afford to stay.'

Venger nodded, sensing an opportunity for gain.

'Very well. Tell the Orc Captain to occupy the castle. Remove any who dare stay.'

Shadow Demon nodded.

'You do not go… yourself?'

Again, Venger glared at Shadow Demon. There was something about that creature, something different that he couldn't pinpoint. It had gained an air of superiority since he'd been trapped in the Banished Lands, and it was something that the Arch-Mage did not like in the least. That creature should know its place: as his slave.

'Do not be foolish, Shadow Demon,' he said, standing up so as to tower over it. 'Occupying an enemy castle is for the Orcs.'

'Perhaps… you have not yet fully recovered. Perhaps, you are still weak…'

One more look silenced the Demon, and this time it grovelled on the floor. But in a sense, it was right. It had taken him so mush longer to recover from his last defeat at the hands of those accursed children. Not even the full power and might of the Heroes' Tomb at the Hall of Bones had been able to keep him from the Realm for so long.

There was silence once more, and his thoughts lingering on the Six. They fought hard and well, even without the lure of a portal to drive them onwards. _Why? Why did they keep going? _Even in the face of all their recent misfortunes, they still did not give up. He did not understand. For all the time and energy he had spent to think apon this matter, he still did not understand.

Yet he knew that one thing was certain: Considering their location, and the time of year, it was obvious what the old man would ask of them next.

The city of Ur would reappear within days, and the children would take the challenge and enter it. And so, he must follow, and ensure they did not use the Key.

He had no other choice.

But for once, the Arch-Mage did not feel the fickle pride or rash elation from their potential defeat. Ur was dangerous. Even Venger wasn't foolish enough to think it would be easy in that city. The Thing that slept within its walls even he did not dare face unprepared.

For a moment, he wondered if the old man would warn them.

But of course he wouldn't; that was not the way he played the game, not the way at all. He would let his young Pupils enter the city with only a riddle to guide them, relying on their intellect and their luck to get them through.

Well, that was not going to be enough. Not in Ur.

Venger gave a thin, malevolent smile. They must know of his return, before he defeated them. They must know that he is still the master of the Realm and, in spite of their best efforts, that he cannot be banished forever! They must see him gain the power of Ur and take their weapons!

_This time, they would fail. And he would be there to watch!_

* * *

'I bet you can't get us another burger, Presto,' said Bobby the Barbarian with a smile. 'Bet you anything!'

'You've had too many burgers already, Bobby,' Sheila told him. The Thief waggled her finger at Presto. 'Don't you dare give him any more!'

'Aww, sis! C'mon, when have we ever had a feast like this before. It'll never happen again!'

The Magician pulled a face at Bobby.

'Oh, okay,' said the Barbarian. 'How about a hotdog?'

'Bob-beee!' said Sheila, but she couldn't help smiling.

Hank couldn't help grinning too. In the few days since they'd helped Amber and the Fairie Dragons find their new home, life had been good. He would almost have gone as far as saying life was wonderful, but for the fact they still weren't home.

They were well fed; the Hat seemed to be working almost perfectly (except for the occasional lapse into irony or cruel humour); and they were all friends again.

He caught the quick, tender glance that Sheila flicked in his direction, and his smile grew wider. Yes, they were definitely all friends again.

They'd left the caves where the Fairie Dragons had taken shelter, and gone as quickly as they could out of King Varen's domain. None of them wanted to be around when the effects of Presto's magic wore off. So now, they were all walking along an old, disused road through a narrow valley. Once, it must have been of some importance, judging by the statues and occasional milestone, but now there were long grasses growing over the track, and many different wild flowers sprouted through the gaps in the stones. It didn't look like anyone had been that way for years. Diana had said as much when they'd found it.

But he was sure this was the way to go. The Dungeonmaster had told them to head this way, hinting that he would see them again soon.

Someone nudged his arm. The Cavalier was holding out a plain hotdog (with no ketchup), and smirking.

'This'll be yours, then,' he said. 'No trimmings.'

Hank took the food with a careful frown. The others were all watching as he stopped to take a bite. Eric was in such a good mood that he wouldn't have put it past him to play a practical joke. Even the innocent gaze of the small, white unicorn seemed suddenly suspicious.

Slowly, he lifted the hotdog. It didn't smell any different from what he remembered hotdogs smelt of before, in those long ago days before the enforced nut-and-berries diet. Reassured, he took a bite.

He was hit by the taste, so rich and juicy and full of memories. He'd never known a hotdog could taste _SO_ good. It was close to heaven.

'Wow,' he muttered, his mouth still full. 'These are amazing!'

'I think they're made of chicken,' said Presto, looking down in consternation at his own half-eaten hotdog. 'They're not supposed to be made of chicken.'

'Presto, stop being such a perfectionist, will ya,' said the Cavalier. 'A hotdog is a hotdog.'

'Well, I don't care,' said Hank, taking another large bite, 'these taste great! Well done!'

He clapped the Magician on the back, and was rewarded with a grin.

'You know, guys, it was nothing…'

As modest as always, Presto trailed off.

'Well, if it was nothing, I'll have another one!' said Eric, holding out his hand. 'This walk certainly makes ya hungry! And we haven't seen any signs of food all day. Unless you count grass,' he added derisively, looking at Uni.

'So where do you think we are, Hank?' Diana asked. 'Do you think we're going the right way?'

'There IS no right way in this crazy place,' Eric replied for him. 'Except the way home.'

There were murmurs of agreement from the others.

Home… they had been away for such a long time. _What date was it when they left? What had the weather been like? What had they been studying at school?_ He was starting to forget other things as well: Was the bookcase on the left hand side or the right as on the upstairs landing? Did his Dad have toast for breakfast in the morning, or did he just have orange juice? Did his mom like tea with one sugar or two? These were real things, important things, not if that toadstool was ok to eat, or was it safe to spend the night in the forest, or is that creature friendly.

He had been getting too used to the Realm. At the back of his mind, some part of him whispered it would be easier, and less painful, just to give up and stay. But that part was very small, and he never listened to it anyway.

'I think this is the right way to go,' he said starting to walk on once more. 'Dungeonmaster said to keep heading north. We're bound to find someplace soon.'

'Not soon enough for my liking,' said Eric. 'Wouldn't it be great to find somewhere nice to spend the night. The Ritz would be nice.'

'Dream on, Cavalier!' said Diana. 'Bet you've never even been to the Ritz!'

Eric just looked at her, a smug expression on his face.

'Are you kidding, Diana,' said Presto, 'he's there all the time, as the cleaning staff!'

They laughed, even Eric giving a grudging smile.

'Well then,' said the Cavalier as the laughter died down, 'since you guys are just _so_ clever, you can answer me this: Why do I hear music?'

'Don't be a dummy,' said Diana, 'there's no music.'

He gave her _that_ look, and waited.

Faintly, Hank heard it. Just audible above the sound of insects was a mournful chord.

'Wow,' whispered Sheila. 'You're right. But where's it coming from?'

'Um, over there,' said Presto, pointing off towards the road in front of them. 'I think it's somewhere up ahead.'

The kids walked on, and all the time the noise grew louder.

It wasn't really music, in the sense that Hank would have defined it. It undulated in volume, sometime quiet, sometimes loud and it slowly changed from major to minor and back again as they approached. It had a deep, sonorous feel, quite unlike anything he'd ever heard before. And he had no idea what could be making it.

The valley grew more shallow, and opened out to a dusty floodplain, with a river winding it's way across further to the west. But to the east, there was another small hill, and that seemed to be where the sound was coming from.

Hank lead the group up, not sure what to expect. The top of the hill had been levelled off, and there were a number of stones, some at least twice Hank's height, and other stones were lying on the ground, half covered in moss. As the wind blew harder, the strength of the sound grew with it, filling the air with soft wailing.

'It sounds like it's… crying,' said Sheila in a whisper.

Hank moved forward for a closer look, and the others followed. The stones had once been carved, but the details were worn away, leaving only random lines and a few small holes. Then the wind dropped suddenly, and there was no music only a deathly quiet. Out of the corner of his eye, Hank saw something red, and out of instinct, his hand moved to the Bow.

'Greetings, my young adventurers!'

'Dungeonmaster!' said Hank in relief. 'It's only you!'

'Indeed, Ranger,' replied the old man. He was sitting on a rock near the centre, leaning back as if he'd been waiting there for some time.

'What is this place?' asked Diana.

'These stones are the Call,' their guide replied. 'They stand near the entrance gate to what was once the most famous place in the Realm. The City of Ur.'

Dungeonmaster pointed to the east, with a sad, melancholic look on his face 'It is abandoned now, and what was once great and good has decayed away.'

Bobby was looking the way Dungeonmaster had pointed.

'I don't see a city,' he said.

'No Barbarian. For the city only appears every sixty seven years. One thousand years ago this was a great city, strong in wealth and power…' Dungeonmaster hesitated.

'What happened to it, Dungeonmaster?' asked Presto.

'I do not know for sure,' replied their old Guide. 'But something came to that city and destroyed it. From within.' He looked sadly round at the children.

'Um, not that I don't already know,' started Eric, 'but why are you telling us this?'

'Somewhere, within the walls of the city, is the Locket Portal, and the Key that opens it.'

Hank's heart gave a sudden and familiar lurch, just as Eric gave a loud huff.

'Why do portals always have to be somewhere dangerous?' said the Cavalier petulantly. 'Why can't they just appear!'

Dungeonmaster looked at the boy with an expression of approval, as if he'd finally asked a good question. But he didn't give an answer.

'What do we have to do, Dungeonmaster?' asked Hank.

The Dungeonmaster hesitated once more, and Hank had the impression that their guide was worried. It was strange to see him like that, he'd always had a strong and confident air about him. Well, except that time against You Know Who…

'Ur will reappear in a few hours,' Dungeonmaster said. 'It will remain here from the moment the sun sets to the moment it rises once more. Then it will sink into the sand from whence it came. Those who are inside the city when it departs will not be able to leave until another sixty seven years have passed. However, there is enough time to search for the Key, which will open the portal and allow you to return to your homeworld.'

The others looked round at each other, quiet. Each one then looked at Hank. Dungeonmaster was watching him too.

'I do not tell you to go,' their guide added, 'you must decide for yourselves. But if you do venture within its walls, you must be very careful not to disturb that which sleeps there. There will be those who are lost, and those who are found, and those who are neither.'

The rest of his friends were silent. They had never done anything like this before and it would be very dangerous. One mistake and they would be trapped.

'Well, whaddya think, Hank?' said Eric eventually. Hank looked at the Cavalier, mildly surprised that Eric had deferred to him. _Take advantage of the peace while you still can,_ he thought. _It'll never last!_

He looked round at his friends. He trusted them, and he trusted Dungeonmaster. Their guide wouldn't tell them about a portal if he thought they didn't have a chance of getting home. He couldn't pass up the opportunity; as small as the chances were, they had to try.

'We'll go,' he said.

'Very well, Ranger,' said Dungeonmaster. It was difficult to tell if he was pleased or not, the expression on his face was the same as before. He pointed east. 'Go to the Gate Stone and wait for the city to surface. And be careful who you help!'

'Well, thanks!' said Eric sourly. 'That's not much of a riddle! And I don't suppose you could tell us where the Key is, just to help us out?'

'He's gone,' said Presto.

'Of course he has! He's got more sense than to stick around when those stupid riddles make even less sense than usual!'

The Cavalier marched off eastwards, ignoring everyone else.

'Are we really gonna go?' asked Sheila.

Hank was sorely tempted to put his arm round her shoulder and hold her close, but the others were watching.

'It'll be ok, Sheila. We'll find the Key and the portal and go home, you'll see!'

'I hope your right, Hank,' she said.

* * *

For a long while, Venger was certain that the children were not going to appear. He stood in the long grass close to the Gate Stone, waiting patiently. Close by, Shadow Demon hovered at a respectful distance, the arrogance it had shown previously now gone from its demeanour. It kept silent.

The Arch-Mage knew about the city, he knew the legends and the rumours, and understood that the Evil that roamed this place owed him no allegiance. It would see him as a rival to power, and try to destroy him if is got the chance. But even a battalion of Orcs wouldn't be able to help him. He would have to match power with power. It was ironic that he must face this creature so soon after his return.

If only he could get the weapons from those accursed children. That would be enough to ensure victory. _That would be enough…_

The suns had turned the western sky blood red and the children still had not appeared, and Venger waited with a growing sense of surprise. Surely the Ranger would not let the opportunity pass; surely the arrogant Cavalier would talk them into it. Surely they wanted to go home?

Then he heard their voices.

'Gate Stone, huh! Bet Dungeonmaster wouldn't know a Gate Stone from a… um, from… any other kind of stone!'

Venger recognised the voice of the Cavalier the instant he had started talking. In a way, the Arch-Mage was relieved that they were here at last; he would have hated to be wrong about them, and it would merely have strengthened Shadow Demon's conceit.

But now, once they entered the city, there would be no going back. Either they would win and get home, or he would and they would be left, weaponless, in the city to try and survive.

The other children were laughing, and Venger took a step back, deeper into the shadows of dusk as they appeared in view. He watched was they walked up to the Stone, talking and laughing and at ease. Of course, they did not know what was ahead of them; they would never have dared set foot in Ur if they had known what lay in wait there. That would give him a significant advantage.

The children stopped by the Stone, and looked around.

'The sun is almost down,' said the Ranger. 'Ur will be here soon.'

'You make it sound like the school bus,' said the Cavalier.

'You wouldn't know what a school bus looked like!' replied the Acrobat, looking pleased with the retort. Though Venger did not understand the sniggering laughter that the comment got, it was clear that the Cavalier was the victim of a joke. The Arch-Mage had often wondered how the others stood that Cavalier's company for any length of time. Or he stood theirs.

'Whatdya reckon these symbols mean,' said the Barbarian, pointing at the Gate Stone. 'It looks kinda funny.'

'I don't recognise it,' said the Ranger, leaning forward to take a closer look.

'It's cuniform, dummy!' The rest of the group turned to stare at the Cavalier. 'What's wrong? You never been to the Museum of Natural History?'

'I didn't know you know what a _museum_ was!' replied the Acrobat.

'For your information, I went with my Mom, so just because you…'

He stopped talking abruptly. The Arch-Mage felt it too. The last rays of the sun had just dipped below the horizon. Ur was almost here.

Behind them, the undulating call of the Rocks of Resonance grew louder as the wind picked up. The dust from the road started to swirl. The children gathered closer together, and even Shadow Demon seemed uneasy. But the Arch-Mage had no need to flinch or fear. He watched as the air by the Stone shimmered and the great City of Ur, seat of Kings, and Capital of the Realm, appeared through the dust.

It was just as he remembered it. The high, broad walls, the towers and turrets behind, all the same dusty grey colour they had always been. Even the tattered banner on the Palace Tower, that fluttered in the wind, was as he remembered.

The black gates were open, just in front of the children, and they hesitated.

'Well, guys, this is it,' said the Ranger. Venger tried to discern some fear or worry in the child's voice, but there was none, only the confidence borne of ignorance. He had the suspicion that they had no idea where to go, or where to start looking for the Key. But that wasn't going to stop them, it seemed. They too had grown more arrogant and conceited in his absence.

'Let's get it over with,' said the Cavalier with a sigh. 'Standing around out here won't help.'

The Arch-Mage watched as one by one they followed their Ranger past the Stone and through the gate. Then he turned to Shadow Demon. There would be no need for the Demon to accompany him, in fact it would be more of a hindrance inside. There would be too many distractions.

'Await my return,' he told it.

'Yes, Master,' it replied, 'if you are sure you wish to enter Ur…'

The glare it got in response made the Demon shrink down into the grasses. Angry, the Arch-Mage swept off towards the gate. He would not let them get away this time. If they could brave the terrors of the city, then so could he.

His robes billowing out behind him in the wind, he followed them though the gate.


	2. Past Times

Chapter 2

Past Times

'This place is dull,' said Eric. 'It's been ages and we've still not seen anything.'

'Relax, guys,' said Hank. 'There's still plenty of time.'

Sheila the Thief privately agreed with Eric (though "ages" was a massive overstatement), but she didn't say anything. The last thing she wanted to do at the moment was break the peace. Fortunately, though the Cavalier was still tense, he didn't pursue the potential argument. Instead, he said:

'Are we just gonna wander around hoping trip over this dumb Key? Do you have any idea unlikely that is?'

Luck had always been an important factor in their adventures, but good fortune and coincidence was only going to get them so far this time. This city was huge, much larger than any they'd been to before, and so far they'd found nothing at all that could help them find either the Key or the Locked Portal. But there had to be something around here that would help.

'There's gotta be something around here that'll help us,' said Bobby, making Sheila smile at him. 'We've just gotta find it!'

They had stopped searching the nearby houses after a while. They had all been empty of everything except the larger pieces of furniture, like chairs and tables. In some way it reminded Sheila of her old doll's house, the way there was everything there, but it was sterile and lifeless all the same. It was no surprise that their unicorn resolutely refused to go into any of them.

Sheila didn't like Ur, and was sure that there was nothing in this place that would make her change her mind. It was cold, and creepy, but most of all it was grey; the dull, flat grey of concrete blocks and skyscrapers. She was so used to open space in the Realm that this place seemed to close in around her. All around there was a muted glow, like sunlight through thick clouds, except it had no heat in it, and she knew it was night. And now there were actually in the city, there was no denying she regretted their decision to enter, no matter what lay inside (though she would never have said it to anyone, except perhaps Hank). There was something too unpleasant about the stillness. They had to get out of here as quickly as possible.

'Where do we start looking for the Key?' she asked.

'How about a locksmiths?' suggested Eric.

'Maybe they could find a lock for your mouth!' said Diana.

'And maybe they could find the key to the box you left your brain in!'

As the Acrobat opened her mouth to reply, Hank interrupted.

'Knock it off, you two! This isn't the place!' They glared at each other, but did as the Ranger told them. 'There must be a library, or something like that, where we can find a map, or at least more information.'

'We shouldda asked ol' Dungeon-Misery when we had the chance!' said Eric. 'Bet he knows all about it!'

Sheila tried to remember what their guide had told them, but there was only something about those who are lost, and helping the right people. He hadn't given them any clues or riddles about how to find what they needed. She sighed and whispered:

'I have a bad feeling about this.' No one heard her.

'Shouldn't we split up?' suggested Diana. 'We'd be able to cover a lot more ground.'

Sheila noticed the fractional glance Hank cast in Eric's direction, then the Ranger shook his head firmly.

'No. We'll stick together,' he told them. 'We're on a tight time limit here, and we don't want anyone wandering off. We'll go this way.'

Hank pointed down the main street. It was wide, as if made to house stalls and shops, as well as traffic and people. The width only heightened its emptiness and their isolation.

As they walked on, the buildings grew in size and grandeur, and her unpleasant feeling grew more acute. The others were aware of it too, as the conversation and playful jibes at the Cavalier slowly petered out until they were walking in silence.

Finally, they stopped in what was once a wide park-like area, except now all the grass and flowers were just brittle stalks. In the centre was a statue of a man with a crown on his head, a wand in his right hand and a book under his left arm.

'That place _could_ be a library,' said Presto, pointing to a squat building close by. 'It's got arches.'

'I think your right,' said Hank. 'And it's as good a place as any to start.'

He walked on, Diana and Bobby following. The Thief expected Eric to give a sarcastic response, but when she looked at him he was only muttering something under his breath. He noticed her gaze and winked at her.

'To quote Presto; "When in Loony-Land, do as the Loonies do."'

She laughed. That was exactly how she felt at the moment as they walked over the dead grass, following the others. She had to be crazy to have gone along with this idea!

_Crazy to get home…_

The building wasn't exactly a library. It was full of carvings and wall murals, depicting great scenes from Ur's history, or at least that's how it seemed to Sheila. They explored more of the building than they had of any other, and the more they looked, the more artworks there were to find. Some were intricate metal statues; some were full-colour paintings that took up a whole wall. For all their time in the Realm, they had never seen anything quite like it.

Close to the back Sheila found another painting, but this wasn't like any of the others. It was darker, more threatening and showed what looked like the city being devoured by some unseen creature. It was also unfinished.

The Thief found the picture fascinating for some reason. She lingered by the picture for a short while, as the others moved off to try and find some books. There were so many small details, that the closer you looked, the more you seemed to see.

There was a tall, handsome knight in silver armour that was trying to stand up to this invisible creature, wielding a double-handed sword. Behind him was another man, maybe another knight and in his hands he held two orbs of light. On one side was a skeletal figure, reaching for one of the orbs. The other orb was next to some sort of special box; it was difficult to tell what it was supposed to represent, as that part of the painting had only the sketches on the wall. What haunted her most about the picture was the look of despair on the Knight's face. Whatever he fought was almost unstoppable.

Eventually, Sheila turned away from the picture, part of her wishing she had never seen it, part of her wishing she had more time to stay. But the others were almost out of earshot, and Hank wanted them to stick together.

Downstairs, in one of the storerooms, Bobby had uncovered about ten dust-covered books, tucked away behind an old table. Unfortunately, no one could read them.

'This is hopeless!' said Eric, tossing the final book against the wall. 'And a waste of time! We're not gonna find anything here!'

'Not if you treat books like that!' said a soft, rasping voice.

They all turned, Sheila automatically reached for the hood of her Cloak. The others were ready with their weapons in an instant too.

In the doorway was small creature, just Uni's height, that looked harmless enough; not quite rotund enough to be a halfling, or quite green enough to be a goblin, he had an angular face, pointy nose and ears, and a short curved tail. There was something that reminded Sheila of the head librarian from school, except in miniature, and with no glasses.

The little creature skittered across the floor, and Uni backed away in fright. He bounded up lightly onto the table, and looked at them with a frown.

'What are you?' he asked Presto. 'I don't recognise you.'

'Um… I'm a human?' he replied.

'Stupid!' he hissed, 'I can see you are a human!' He pointed to the Hat. 'What ARE you?'

'I'm a, um, Magician.'

'I see…' The creature looked round at the others, one at a time. When he looked at her, Sheila felt a brief twinge of fear; the eyes were so yellow and bright, with a fierce intelligence in them. But the feeling only lasted a second.

When asked, they all said their titles, and only then did the frown fade away. She looked up at Hank, but if he seemed worried, he didn't show it.

'But what are you?' asked Bobby.

'You may call me Thom,' he said. 'Welcome to my home.'

'Thanks,' said Hank with a small smile.

'This place is your home?' said Bobby, looking amazed and sounding incredulous. Inside, Sheila winced, wishing that Bobby had learned to be more polite, she'd tried so hard to teach him, though he rarely seemed to listen. But Thom nodded, and didn't take offence.

'I happened apon this city a long time ago, and quite by accident,' he said. 'And I never left.' Thom saw the confusion on their faces, and gave a gruff laugh.

'Um… why?' asked Presto.

'I hadn't finished.'

'Hadn't finished what?' the Magician said.

'The Books.'

'Oh. Right. Books.'

Presto turned to Hank to help him out of the still pause that followed.

'Are there many books here?' the Ranger asked.

The creature let out a low splutter that could have been a laugh.

'There are more than you have ever seen in you short, little lives,' Thom told him. 'I could have left this city any number of times, but even so, I still haven't finished.'

'So, they're a good read, then?' said Eric, a touch too smugly for the creature's liking. It hissed at him.

'I think, young Cavalier, you would do well to watch your manners!'

Eric visibly clamped down on a comeback, after Diana had given him a surreptitious poke in the ribs.

'And you?' Thom said. 'Why are you in this dread city, young Adventurers?'

He addressed Hank, as he'd obviously figured out who was the leader, but the Ranger hesitated.

Thom showed no fear of them, quite the opposite. The way he sat there on the table, staring at them made her feel vulnerable, as if she would never be out of its sight while in Ur. He talked a great deal as well, but seemed not to understand the concept of answering questions with any clarity. His oblique mode of speech had made her confused, then wary. Sheila was usually the first to give people the benefit of the doubt, but she wasn't sure about Thom. Hank wasn't either; she knew him far to well not to notice the subtle signs.

'We're searching for something,' the Ranger said at last.

'Your no different for all of the others who venture here,' said Thom. 'Everyone is searching Ur for something. The gold and jewels have been ransacked already, years ago.'

'No, we're not looking for money,' Hank replied. Sheila saw Eric roll his eyes and sigh. 'We're looking for a way home.'

Thom blinked slowly at him.

'So… you seek the Locked Portal,' he said. Thom's voice was suddenly sombre. 'Then you should leave while you still can.'

That did not make Sheila feel any better. Someone who knew about the city, and what they were up against thought it was a bad idea. For a moment, she thought Hank and the others would agree, but then she saw the look on Bobby's face and knew they had to try. She had to help and support them as much as she could.

'No, we can't. We've gotta find it,' said Hank firmly.

'It will not be easy.'

'Nothing in this dumb place ever is!' muttered Eric.

'Do you know anything? Would you help us?' asked Hank. 'Can you at least tell us where to start?'

The creature wrinkled up his nose, then jumped down from the table, again making Uni start. He headed towards the door.

'Follow.'

At first Sheila hoped that Thom would lead them straight to the Key, or at least the Portal, but she knew that what Eric had said was true; nothing was every easy in the Realm. Thom led them down some dark corridors and up a flight of stairs before stopping in a wide room near the back of the building. Maybe Thom used it as a study, or a place to read, as there was no dust, and seven thick white candles burned in the window. By the table was a chair, and on it was a small pile of books.

'It may help,' said Thom, jumping up on a chair in the centre of the room, 'if you understood more about this city. Perhaps, when you know, you will see why you should leave.'

The kids gathered round as he started to speak.

'They made lots of wonderful things in this city, the clever wizards. The Locked Portal was the greatest; it was rumoured to do almost anything, take you anywhere, even back and forth through Time. So powerful was the portal that it had to remain closed and locked, unless it was in use. Its creator tried to keep it a secret, being of a covetous disposition, but rumour spread nonetheless. It attracted Evil things that desired its power. So the wizard asked for help from the King, who gave him his best knights to guard it. To them he gave a solemn task; protect the Key at all costs, and if necessary, destroy it.'

It was silent as Thom looked round at them, eyes glinting in the candlelight.

'They thought they were protected, they thought they had _thought_ of everything, but something still Evil came; something that worked from within to gain knowledge and power over those in the city. The people felt it; those who had any sense left, those who were too arrogant or disbelieving stayed, and were eventually destroyed.

'What happened to the Portal?' asked Hank.

'The wizard who created it learned too late the value of humility,' Thom replied with a skewed smile. 'He was destroyed on the first day of darkness, and it was one of the King's knights that stood against Evil. He was a great knight, one of the greatest ever to exist, perhaps. He had once been a Celestial Knight, but he had pledged fealty to this City and the King. He fought for three days and three nights, keeping the evil at bay as the last few any with sense fled. Finally, desperate and defeated, the knight summoned up his strength and split the key in two with the last stroke of his sword.'

The dramatic pause Thom had planned was ruined when Bobby gave a loud huff.

'Gr-eat!' he said. 'So we have twice as much to do!'

'May I continue, Barbarian?' asked Thom, with pointed politeness.

Bobby lowered his head and nodded, and deliberately avoided looking at his sister, knowing what her expression would be. How often did she have to tell him not to be rude!

'Well then, it seemed that the wily wizard had not left his creation unprotected. When the key broke, there was an enormous outpouring of magic, and the creature was imprisoned. The Knight died in the backlash.'

The thought of that beautiful picture came back to Sheila and tears almost started in her eyes. It was clear now that the story she'd heard, and the picture she'd seen were of the same event, though why someone would make a painting of something that would never be finished, or even seen, was puzzling. Maybe it was a memorial or some kind. After all, the nameless Knight had died. She remembered the look of despair on his handsome face. He had died to destroy the evil that threatened everything, and he had known it at the time and didn't run away. He was a hero, though no one remembered him.

'What about the Key?' asked Hank. 'What happened to it?'

'Ah, well, yes. The two pieces were taken by one of those who survived. They were hidden separately within the city, and put under enchantments of the most powerful, dangerous and complex kind; powerful enough to deter all but the most foolhardy.'

Thom looked down at them from his position on the table, with an expression that seemed to imply that anyone who looked for the key must be out of their minds.

'Terrific,' muttered Presto. 'We haven't gotta chance!'

Sheila felt the same, and the hope of getting home began to fade. It wasn't as painful anymore, it was a feeling she was getting very used to; they all were. But they couldn't just give up. Dungeonmaster had thought they could do it, he wouldn't have sent them here if he didn't.

'C'mon guys,' she said. 'We can't give up without trying!'

'I think we can, you know,' said Eric. 'You can watch if you like.'

'I think Sheila's right,' said Diana, scowling at the Cavalier. 'Stop being such a defeatist! The least we can do is try!'

Sheila looked at Hank, who was standing quietly to one side. She recognised the look on his face. She knew what he was thinking: That it was too dangerous, and too much of a risk, they now had twice as much to do and if they failed they might not be able to get out. He glanced up, looking straight into her eyes, making her heart suddenly start thudding. Those eyes were such a wonderful shade of blue.

'We have to try, don't we Hank?' she said.

After a pause, the Ranger nodded.

'Do you know where the two pieces are hidden?' he asked Thom. 'Can you help us get them?'

'I can help you find them,' he said. 'But I cannot get to them for you.'

'Why?' asked Eric.

'Only one human may touch the Key.'

Eric seemed to find that reply odd for some reason, judging by the look on his face. He glared at Thom.

'And how do you know all this?' asked the Cavalier, sounding suspicious.

'Perhaps you would learn it too, if you stopped throwing books, and started reading them!'

Diana suppressed a laugh, but Thom stood up, not even bothering with Eric's reaction.

'You don't have a great deal of time,' he said, his full attention back on Hank. 'We'll have to go, right now.'

'Well, let's go!' said the Ranger, smiling at the others. 'The sooner we find the Key, the sooner we can get home.'

'Looks like we don't have a choice,' muttered Eric as they headed out of the room.

If Thom heard, he chose to ignore the Cavalier, and bounded off towards the exit.

Once outside, he pointed down the main street, towards a collection of large, stately buildings a few blocks away.

'Go that way.'

They walked off, with Thom in tow, heading in the direction he'd told them to go. Their new "friend" didn't speak to any of them, and didn't answer when the Thief tried to talk. He just ambled along at the back, and Sheila eventually gave up any attempt at conversation and walked along beside Presto and Diana in silence.

Thom was a strange little creature, not really like anything she'd met before. It wasn't that she disliked him; she just didn't know what to make of him.

In a way, he reminded her of Venger; the look in the eyes, the cold, emotionless expression (and the dislike of Eric, but then, the Cavalier did have the tendency to rub people up the wrong way!). In other ways, he reminded her of Dungeonmaster; the calm authority and vast knowledge, the way he looked to Hank when he talked, not to mention the similarity in height.

Next to her, Presto and Diana barely talked, both were looking ahead with a familiar, will-we-get-home-look on their faces. Bobby and Uni were beside Hank at the front, striding purposefully along the road. Eric was in between, looking around with a half-frown on his face, a pensive and profound expression that had no place being anywhere near Eric. Intrigued, the Thief sped up to walk beside him.

'Hey, whatya thinking about?'

The Cavalier took a deep breath, almost as if he was weighing up what to say. Perhaps he was afraid she would laugh.

'There was a picture in that place, showing what that creature told us about the knight and the key.'

'Oh!' said Sheila. 'You saw it too?'

'There was something odd about it, _familiar_ maybe,' he said. 'At least, I think there was. I'm not sure. I didn't look at it for that long.'

'It was beautiful,' she said, thinking about the incredible detail. 'It must have taken weeks to paint.'

Eric nodded.

'But who would want to paint something like that, here, where it would never be seen? It wasn't even finished.'

'Maybe it's a memorial.' The look she got told her that the Cavalier didn't like that idea. 'Well, you think up something better!'

Eric laughed, but not in an amused way.

'You want to know what I think?' he asked, but didn't wait for a reply. 'Heroes don't get to go home. They end up dead. With nothing left behind them but a half-finished picture.'

Less than a month ago, hearing him talk like this would have, firstly, scared her to instant and voluminous tears; and then surprised her so much that she would have missed her step; Eric was never _serious_: Well, never that serious!

But what really surprised her was her answer.

'I think it was worth it.' She blushed as she realised what she was saying, and to whom she was saying it. 'He did what he had to do.'

Eric raised an eyebrow in that way he did, but didn't reply.

_He did what he had to do._ That was the lesson they'd learned time and again in this place. It didn't make it any easier to accept, but each time a portal closed, at least they had the satisfaction of knowing it was for a good cause, that it was _right._ Even the Cavalier had learned the lesson eventually, as his actions helping the Fairie Dragons had shown. She looked up at him, but he was staring ahead, with the sombre expression back on his face.

But, strangely, their short conversation did improve her spirits. Together, they could face anything. She was still afraid of being alone, and never more so than when she remembered what good friends she had. But not even that would stop her doing what she had to do to get home.

They walked on in silence, and Sheila slowly started to feel uncomfortable. Eric did too, and he was looking around uneasily. Ahead, Hank slowed to a halt, and the others followed suit. They had stopped a short way from a large, cathedral-like building, with spires and arches and gargoyles and a pair of heavy wooden doors that were almost twice her height.

'This is the place?' the Ranger asked Thom, as soon as the creature had stopped.

'You are astute,' said Thom, with a smirk. 'This is the Crypt of the Dead, where those who have died go to rest before burial. There are tombs in there too, of both the rich and the powerful; and one of the halves of the Key is hidden inside.'

'Great. What's the downside?' asked Eric in a sarcastic tone that, fortunately, Thom missed.

'These were not the sort of people to leave their mortal remains unprotected,' said Thom. 'Inside, there are traps and magic and deadly creatures; Crypt things, giant rats, Living Walls, lurkers, wights, wraiths…' Thom petered out as he looked round at the faces of the Young Ones.

'Well,' said Hank, sounding uncertain. 'I suppose that doesn't sound _so_ bad. Once we get in we can…'

'Didn't I mention,' interrupted Thom, 'Those gargoyles are the guardians of the Crypt.' He pointed to four of the larger, more grotesque statues on the façade, 'If they see anyone trying to go inside without permission, they'll attack. They'll try and squash you when they jump down, or they'll turn you to stone and try and smash you!'

No one spoke.

'Well, I did try and tell you it was next to impossible,' said Thom, sounding aggrieved.

They had hardly even been in this dreadful city of an hour and they were stuck at the first hurdle! The failure would have been embarrassing, if she wasn't so relieved.

'You know, the building may be guarded,' said Thom, 'but _one_ of you can still get passed.'

He was looking at her, those bright, yellow eyes gleaming in the subdued light. _'If they see anyone trying to go inside…'_ Of course, they wouldn't see her! She suddenly felt sick. This wasn't just dangerous, it was bordering on suicidal!

Involuntarily, she glanced up at Hank, seeing the stricken look on his face. For a second she thought he would forbid her to go; she was certain he wanted to, but instead he reached out to hold her hand.

'Can you do it?'

She didn't look round at the others. She was far too captivated by the Ranger's eyes to be able to turn her head at all. She didn't want to go in there, but she nodded.

'Yes, Hank. I'll go.'

He must have known she would do almost anything for him. And she would do almost anything to get home.

'Be careful,' he whispered. 'Please.'

He was so close to kissing her, they even leaned closer to each other, but instead he visibly forced himself to look at the others. They all looked worried, but at least they were making the effort to look calm, even the Cavalier.

'We'll wait for you here,' Hank said.

Her little brother suddenly gave her a hug, something she didn't expect at all. As she held him, she smiled. She had to do it, to help him. He deserved to go home, after all this time. They all did.

'Don't worry, Bobby, I'll be back as soon as I can.'

As she stood, she turned to Thom.

'What does the Key look like?' she asked him.

'It looks like half a key,' said Thom, confused. 'But it might be in a box.'

'Is that really all the help you can give her?' snapped Hank.

Thom blinked at him.

'Well, I did say it wasn't going to be easy! And don't forget, there are probably booby traps on the floor too,' Thom added, trying to be helpful.

'I'll be ok, Hank,' said Sheila quickly, seeing the look on his face. Before he could argue, she reached for the hood of her Cloak. She smiled at him. 'I'll be ok!'

With a quick nod to the others, she pulled the hood up and disappeared, hoping that she didn't look nearly as scared as she felt. She had done this sort of thing many times before, it was just that this time it was more dangerous. From what Thom had said, almost anything evil could be behind the doors of the Crypt. But she had to get there first; she had to creep past the watchful glare of those golems.

Trying not to think about what Thom said, she stepped forward. At first, she only took small steps, but she grew in confidence. It was only a short way to the doors, and she crossed it within a few minutes. The gargoyles didn't move at all.

Opening the doors was trickier. They were terribly heavy, and didn't seem to have been opened in years. They creaked slightly, and she was sure one of the golems above her twitched. In the end she only opened it a tiny crack, then squeezed herself inside, thankful that she was slim enough to fit.

The inside of the Crypt was light by the same baleful glow that saturated everywhere else in Ur, but the interior was not what she expected. From what Thom had said, she'd expected it to be dark and creepy and evil-looking. But instead, the room she was in was made of grey and white marbled stone, as smooth as polished glass. It was the size of a football pitch; there were a few windows high up, a couple of Statues, and two rows of columns that went all the way down to the far end. But there were no doors, and no other way out that she could see.

Still treading carefully, and keeping her Cloak on, she began to search the room. But she couldn't find any hidden doors in the walls, or any secret panels, or in fact anything that was a way out at all. But she didn't find any signs of anything evil either, and that was at least something to be pleased about.

Eventually, having exhausted all the possibilities with walls, she looked at the statues. One was of the same man as before, outside the building where they'd met Thom. He still had a crown and a book and a wand, but this time he looked older, and he had a beard. The other statue was a woman, dressed in an oddly shaped helmet and a long robe. One arm was raised, much like the Statue of Liberty, and the other one held an enormous round shield upright on the floor. There was more of that incomprehensible cuniform writing on it.

Just as Sheila was about to give up, she noticed a small grill on the floor, just behind the male Statue. She went over and gave it a half-hearted pull, not really expecting it to be loose. But it was and lifted out easily revealing a hole and a small tunnel.

It was darker down there than in the hall, but it was wide enough for her to fit down, if she wanted to. Apart from the fact that she would have to return past those horrible golems outside, she didn't want to give up quite so soon and without finding the Key.

She wished the others were here with her, maybe one of them could make sense of what was going on, and where the Key was.

Glancing down the hole, the Thief frowned. _What sort of creature would live down a small tunnel like this?_ she wondered. It couldn't be anything too dangerous. And if there was any trouble, she was still invisible and she could easily get back out the way she came. At least then she could return to the others knowing she had tried her best.

So Sheila carefully lowered herself down.

* * *

The children and their diminutive companion had stopped outside the Crypt and Venger stopped too, to watch from the safety of a shadowed archway.

Except for the noise of the accursed Young Ones in front of him, the streets of Ur were silent, and empty. The houses, the shops, the market place; all were just as they had been before the city had been infected, and had sunk beneath the sands to hide its shame.

There was a quietness in this place, as if Time had merely paused. The air was stale and everything smelt of dust, but not decay. Even the magical light that filled the city, as daylight filled the rest of the Realm, had the same sterile feel as everything else here.

Part of him longed to wander these cold and barren streets, to search the houses and the buildings to see what Time had left behind. There would be many artefacts of interest in Ur, as this place was once a stronghold of great power and learning.

But he didn't. Anything of value would have been pillaged long ago; adventurers and mercenaries, and even the occasional lost traveller had come and gone with the treasures of Ur over the thousand years since its fall. He had to get to the Key, or at least ensure the children could not use it. Nothing else mattered.

Though the streets seemed empty, and the city devoid of life, there was still _something_ that he had sensed the moment he had passed through the gate. He could feel Evil here, sleeping but still sentient. He understood how Evil functioned, how it preyed on the heart and the soul. And this place was _Evil_. There was something within these walls that generated such vile and wicked hate that even Venger was in awe.

The Evil had penetrated everything, even the motes of dust that stirred as he passed by. Though it slept for now, it would be perilously easy to awaken it. He had to be careful. It would, no doubt, become aware of his power should he fail to be inattentive to the signs around him.

One of the children moved: The Thief. Venger watched with a slight smile as she disappeared beneath her Cloak. They must have found the location of the first part of the Key. It was a natural task for a thief, to circumvent the protection around the Crypt and locate the Key. But she would never be able to find it on her own! How long would it take her to realise that? It would be amusing to watch what she did. But then, she was unpredictable, that one.

A frown passed across his face as he remembered that fiasco with Karena, how the Thief had found and freed her, and how the Thief had used the rings to imprison him, instead of opening a portal to their homeworld. He had underestimated her, and that Thief had caused him a great deal of trouble; perhaps he should return the favour here.

Only a small amount of magic was needed to disrupt her footsteps and make her trip, or force the doors to stay closed, or maybe even appear before her in person. He had enjoyed the look of fear on her face when he had lifted her chin to look into her eyes, that day before the Crystal of Kronos was destroyed and that human had betrayed him. He would like the opportunity to taunt her again.

But he would not risk being found by the Evil that slept here, not even to torment the unfortunate Thief.

And _much_ more importantly, only together could they gain the Key; and it would be far more amusing to reveal himself to all of them at once. He wanted them all to see him. There would be a better opportunity later, when they had the completed Key and were standing on the brink of the Locked Portal.

Any _entertainment_ could wait until then.

Like the others who stood in the shadows near the doors of the Crypt, Venger waited for the Thief to return.

* * *


	3. Look to the Lady

Chapter 3

Look to the Lady

'How long's it been, Hank?' demanded the Barbarian. He hated waiting.

'Not too long, Bobby.'

It was the same reply every time. Why wouldn't Hank give him a better answer?

The Barbarian went back to glowering at the doors of the Crypt. It seemed to him as if Sheila had been away for hours! Beside him, the unicorn nuzzled into his arm to show her sympathy, so he put his arm around her.

He could see that his friends were anxious too. Hank paced; Bobby hadn't seen him like this for ages, maybe even since the Citadel of Shadow, and maybe not even then! Presto and Diana stood close together on the near side of the road, occasionally muttering something to one another. Even Mr-Tactless-Cavalier was troubled. He stood off to one side leaning again a wall with his Shield beside him, his arms crossed, and a frown on his face.

Their new friend Thom, was waiting alone even further down the street. He had found a high wall to sit on and was watching the Crypt door intently. He was a funny little creature; spindly legs and green skin, and a slight stoop that made him look like a teacher. Bobby didn't like him much. He didn't dislike him either, it was just that he had such a strange way of acting. He didn't like to talk to them much; that was clear (except about thing he wanted to talk about, and then he just seemed to go on and on). Perhaps it was the fact that he'd been stuck in this creepy city for years that had made him go a little, _funny_.

They waited for a while, and Bobby's anxiety grew with each passing minute. He watched Hank pace up and down the street, twelve steps away and twelve steps back; exactly the same every time.

The uncomfortable silence was broken, at last, by Eric. The only surprising thing was that he'd managed to keep his mouth shut for so long.

'So, Hank,' he said. 'Do we have a plan B?'

Diana scowled at him but, though Eric noticed, he ignored her.

'We don't need a plan B, Eric,' replied Hank, giving Bobby a reassuring smile. 'Sheila will be fine!'

The Cavalier pushed himself off the wall, picking up the Shield and moving in front of Hank. The Ranger stopped pacing.

'Don't you think we should have a backup plan?' asked Eric. 'We don't have all day.' He looked around. 'From dusk until dawn, remember.'

'She'll be _fine_!'

Bobby couldn't tell who Hank was trying to reassure. He had confidence in his sister, and while he was worried, he wasn't _that_ worried! He wasn't a baby that needed the truth hidden from him. He'd grown up a so much in the Realm, he knew Sheila had to do what she had to do, for the good of the group. He knew it was dangerous. He didn't want, or need to be protected.

He was going to tell Hank so, when he noticed the look on the Ranger's face. Hank was scared, but not in a way he'd ever seen him before. He remembered the looks Sheila and Hank had been giving each other over the past few days, the secret smiles when they'd thought no one was looking. Had they finally got together as an item? And was it such a surprise if they had? After all, Hank had been all Sheila could talk about that day, the day they came here. Bobby almost grinned; he'd teased her so much about that!

The Cavalier was about to add something else, when Diana interrupted.

'There's no way Sheila would let anything happen. Besides she's got the Cloak.'

'I'm not saying she's in trouble! Ok!' snapped Eric. 'I'm just saying that we should have a backup plan, in case…'

'"In case"…what?' said Hank.

Much to Bobby's surprise, this time Eric didn't back down at the angry tone in Hank's voice.

'In case she needs our help.'

There was a pause while the two boys glared at each other.

'I know!' said Diana suddenly. 'You could use the Shield to keep us safe as we all go in!'

'Huh?'

'When we're attacked by those stone things, like Thom said, you can use the Shield as a barrier!'

'That's not really what I meant as a plan B!' Eric replied shortly.

'Not… _scared_…?'

'Don't be stupid! Of course I am! Standing underneath four tonnes of stone waiting to get squished isn't my idea of sane behaviour! Why don't you hold them off with your nice, green stick instead!'

'Stop it!' Hank said sharply. 'Stop mucking around!'

Bobby was sure Eric muttered "who's mucking!" as he crossed his arms again; but it wasn't loud enough to get another response from the Ranger.

'Sheila will be FINE!' repeated Hank. 'We don't need to worry about her!'

There was a gasp from Presto, and the others turned to look the way he was pointing.

'Let's worry about ourselves!' he said. 'Look out!'

In the road behind, charging at them at high speed, were five or six rat-like creatures. They looked like a cross between men and rodents, with a human body shape but covered in short, brown fur. Their faces were rat-like, with pointy noses and whiskers and long, sharp front teeth. They were about six feet tall, dressed in light chainmail and armed with swords and maces.

And they were heading straight for the Young Ones.

'Scatter!' shouted Hank.

The rat-things had managed to creep up close before being noticed, and no one had a chance to scatter very far. The first rat made straight for Hank, who didn't even have time to pull an arrow before it leaped at him, bringing its sword straight down with a howl of delight. Hank blocked it with the Bow, but was knocked to the ground by the force.

Eric was close enough to help, but he'd turned to protect Diana as two more rat-men leaped at her. One got a smack across the jaw with the Javelin, but the other would have made contact, had Eric not got himself between them and defected the strike.

Bobby raised the Club. Another rat was heading his way! The ground shook as he hit it, and the Ratmen all staggered. But his friends were all unbalanced by the earthquake too, and their attackers weren't scared off.

Presto had pulled the Hat off his head and was starting to wave his hand over it. But another Rat-creature was charging at him with a sword, so Bobby ran forward to meet it.

With a wild swing, he sent it flying backwards against the wall. But even though it was dazed, it pushed itself back up, and came running back at them.

'Do something, Presto!' called Eric. 'Quick!'

The Magician was already halfway through a spell.

'_By night and moon, or wind or rain, send these guys back down the drai…_'

The last word was unfinished as another Rat-thing leaped up, tearing at the Hat with clawed hands. Presto managed to pull it away in time, but the spell was ruined.

Close by, Hank was trying to fend off the Rat that had attacked him. It seemed desperate to get the Bow away from him.

Eric was too busy holding off the other Ratman trying to attack Hank to notice yet another one creeping up behind him. Bobby saw it out of the corner of his eye, but hadn't even opened his mouth to shout a warning when it lunged for the Cavalier's neck with its sword.

Suddenly, there was a piercing scream from close by that took the Ratmen (and the Young Ones) by complete surprise. Hank recovered first, yanking his arm away from his attacker and quickly loosing a volley of arrows.

Energy arrows flew at the Ratmen and the sky exploded with light making the creatures shrieked in pain and cover their eyes.

'More arrows!' called Presto. 'They hate light! More arrows!'

Hank sent about ten more up into the sky, bathing the ground in intense white light. Still howling, the Ratmen ran for cover back down the street. Diana and Bobby both ran a short way after them and, within less than twenty seconds, they had all gone.

'Wow! That was lucky' said Diana breathlessly, as she returned to their friends. 'But where did that scream come from?'

'Um… that would have been me!' said a voice close by. 'Sorry to scare you!'

'Sheila!' said Bobby, running forward to give his reappearing sister a hug. 'Where did you come from!'

'I found a secret entrance from the vault,' she said. 'A tunnel. We can all get in that way. Truthfully, I'd be glad of the company! It's a creepy sort of place.' She smiled at Bobby, then looked up to the Ranger. Bobby saw her smile widen.

Her expression suddenly changed.

'Oh! Eric! Are you ok?'

The Cavalier was sitting on the ground at the back of the group, behind the Acrobat, his face screwed up with pain. He was holding his hand up to his neck.

'Let me see,' Sheila said, in the motherly way she usually reserved for Bobby alone. Eric let her move his hand. There was a slender, shallow cut on his neck that was bleeding and Sheila immediately started dabbing the blood away a handkerchief from her pocket.

'Wow, it just missed you,' said Diana quietly.

'Stop poking it, Sheila! It stings!' snapped the Cavalier.

'Man, that was close,' said Presto. 'It almost took your head off, Eric.'

'Yes, well, instead now I've got a literal pain in the neck!' he said. 'And stop doing that!' He grabbed the tissue from the Thief. 'Please! You're just… making it worse!'

Sheila seemed to smile at the other boy, and held out her hand to help him up. While it was not like the Cavalier to shy away from attention, he was obviously embarrassed that the Ratman had sneaked past him, for all his boasting about the Shield.

'Tell us what happened,' said Hank to the Thief, after Eric was standing up again. 'What did you find?'

The Thief told them about the Vault and the statues, and apologised for not being able to get any further on her own.

'That's ok,' said Hank. 'You've found a way for us all to get in! That's probably even better!'

Bobby smiled at her too, and Uni gave a short bray of agreement.

'What about Thom?' said the Ranger suddenly, looking around. The funny little creature was still sitting on the wall, exactly where he had been before the Ratmen appeared, looking down at what was going on with a blank expression.

For a second, Bobby wondered what he had been doing during the fight with the Ratmen; he couldn't remember if he'd even seen the creature when the Rats attacked. Had he been attacked too, or was he too quick, or too high up for them to reach?

'So, there is a secret entrance,' said Thom, dropping lightly down from his seat. 'Who would have guessed! Show me!'

Sheila hesitated, and looked to Hank for encouragement. He nodded, and Sheila led them back down the street they had come up, the opposite direction from where the Rat-things had run, to a small building that had probably been a shop at one time. In the back was a paved garden, and hidden at the back was an open grille. Sheila pointed down there.

'There's a tunnel that leads all the way inside,' she said. 'But it gets kinda narrow in places. I had to squeeze past.'

Bobby, and everyone else, glanced at the Cavalier, who was the least agile of them, being dressed in chainmail and plate armour, and who had a habit of getting stuck.

'Fine, I'll stay here,' he said. 'Knowing my luck I'll get stuck down there permanently. The last thing I want is to have to stick around this place any longer than I have to!'

'No, you're not gonna stay!' said Hank firmly. 'I said before, we're NOT gonna split up.'

'Well, what…'

'Take you're armour off!'

At that statement, the Cavalier went quiet, and the Barbarian was sure the other boy turned red. He thought Eric would argue; and once he'd recovered from the surprise, Eric did. But not for nearly as long as Bobby expected! Eventually, resigned to his fate, the Cavalier carefully unclipped his breastplate, but insisted that he keep the chainmail shirt on.

'You're not _shy_? Are you?' asked Diana playfully. 'It's not like we haven't had to put up with you like this before! You love it!'

'I do not!' snapped Eric, blushing even more. 'Name one time…' He stopped. 'Oh, don't bother! I keep telling you, I didn't _know_ that skunk-chicken thing was gonna spray me.'

The girls both laughed, even Hank gave a small smile.

'C'mon! Let's get on with this!' said Hank as the Cavalier continued to take his armour off. 'You can go last if you like, Eric.'

Eric nodded, and so one by one they headed dropped down the holes and into the tunnel. Sheila was in the lead, followed by Hank; then Thom, Diana, Bobby, Uni and Presto, with Eric grumbling at the back, pulling his armour along behind.

The tunnel was long, dark and dusty, with lots of long straggly bits of cobweb; and very narrow in places. Hank, being the biggest, was almost stuck twice, but he managed to wriggle through. Eric with his full armour on would never have made it past the first bend!

It took them a while to get through, but they reached the end at last, and Bobby was helped up into the main Vault, and Uni was passed up to him by Presto.

The Barbarian looked around. It was just like Sheila had described. There was a lot of smooth white stone, with a few windows high up, two rows of columns and the Statues.

They seemed huge to him; the man with the crown and the wand, and the woman with the odd helmet and the giant shield. He stared up at them, the others doing the same (except Eric who insisted on putting his armour back on before he did anything else).

'The man seems so sad,' said Sheila. 'Not like before, that other statue of him outside the library.'

Diana was staring up at the female statue. The woman also seemed sad, maybe even tired or in pain, as if holding her arm up in the air, or supporting the shield, were close to impossible.

'I think it looks more like a gong than a shield,' said Eric. 'She'd never be able to use it like a shield anyway. It doesn't even have anything for her to hold!'

'I winder what that writing means?' asked the Acrobat, pointing to the woman's shield.

They looked at Thom, but the small creature had wandered off to examine something else on the wall, and he was completely ignoring the kids.

'Hey Thom!' called Hank. 'Can you translate this?'

The creature turned slowly to face him, as if annoyed that he'd been disturbed from whatever he was looking at. He glanced up to the statues.

'These are the effigies of the last king and queen,' he said suddenly. 'Mardich and Ishar. Ishar is supposed to be entombed in the Crypt, somewhere.'

'Yes, but what does it say,' said Eric. 'We don't want a history lesson!'

Thom glared at him, its yellow eyes suddenly gleaming. It was a look that reminded Bobby of someone, but he couldn't remember who; Eric managed to annoy most people, after all!

'I _can_ translate,' said Thom.

'Plea-ssse, will you tell us, then,' said Eric. 'So we can blow this place and go home!'

Thom shrugged.

'It only says "Song, not Silence".

'That's all?' replied the Cavalier. In response, Thom moved off to look at the walls again, seeming to have lost interest. 'Any suggestions?'

'We could sing?' ventured Sheila.

'Yeah,' said Eric with a sneer. 'I bet the acoustics in here would be wonderful! I meant any suggestions for finding the Key!'

'I'm not sure,' said Hank. 'Let's look around some more. Keep your eyes open.'

With varying degrees of enthusiasm, they started to look around again, but all the time Bobby's attention was drawn back to the Statues. The more he looked, the more uneasy he felt. _Song, not silence_, what did it mean? He had the odd feeling they already knew.

They searched again, but only quickly, they were all conscious of the passing time.

'I give up!' said Eric suddenly. 'This isn't right! This isn't gonna work!'

'Not if you keep giving up, it won't,' replied Diana. 'It's gotta be around here somewhere. There has to be a clue.'

'Why?' demanded Eric. 'Why does there have to be a clue? The Key isn't supposed to be found! At least not easily! And not by us! It's not like we can just push a button and everything opens up!'

'Why not!' said Presto suddenly. 'Maybe not push a button, but why not ring the bell? Or the gong, like you said, Eric! "Song", not "silence", remember!'

Eric pulled a face.

'Oh, come on! I only said it _looked_ like a gong. That's never gonna work!'

'That shield is made of metal, you know,' said the Magician. 'What's the point in making it metal, anyway?' Eric's mouth opened but he couldn't think of an answer. 'And maybe she's supposed to be holding a hammer in that hand.'

They all looked up.

'Well, I suppose it _might_ be,' conceded Eric. 'And even if you were right, which you're probably not, how are we gonna ring it!'

'I can ring it!' said Bobby suddenly. 'I can use this!'

He lifted the Club, happy at the prospect of being useful, rather than just standing around.

'Oh, please!' said Eric, covering his eyes with a hand. 'That's the last thing we need!'

Everyone else looked round at Hank, even Thom who seemed suddenly seemed to take an interest.

'I don't know of anything else we can do at this stage,' said Hank slowly. 'I think you should give it a try!'

They all stepped back as Bobby tapped the Club lightly on the ground, feeling it hum with power. Then he swung at the gong with all his strength.

There was the most deafening boom as the Club sent vibrations through the gong. The sound was deep, rounded, and a pure note, much like the sound from the Rocks of Resonance only much deeper; and it reverberated through the whole room. He could feel it shake his insides. It was almost painful.

But just ahead, behind the two Statues, one of the stones in the wall was moving back.

'Alright!' said Diana, having to shout above the noise. 'It worked! It worked! See!'

The Cavalier gave a grudging nod. 'Yeah, it worked, there's a hole in the wall! That's just what we need!'

As the noise and the vibrations died down, the kids moved forward to investigate the new opening.

'I think we can fit in,' said Hank, carefully sticking his head through and looking around. He turned back to them, and grinned. 'Looks like you were right, Presto! Well done!'

'I hate to rain on your parade, Mr Ranger, Sir!' said Eric. 'But there could be _anything_ behind there!'

'Stop being so negative, Cavalier,' said Diana. 'You wanna get home don't you?'

'I seem to remember a mention of "traps and magic and deadly creatures". Crypt things; remember that? Giant rats? Living Walls? Lurkers? Wights? Wraiths? Sound familiar?'

It wasn't like Eric to be _so_ negative. Yes, he usually the last to want to do anything, but he seemed really down about the whole idea all of a sudden.

'What's gotten into you?' demanded Diana.

'Yeah, why you so scared all of a sudden?' added Bobby.

'I'm not scared!' snapped Eric. 'It just seems… oh, I don't know!.'

The Cavalier gave a frown, but didn't add anything.

'Well, let's get going,' said Hank, looking round at the others. 'We've got a Key to find!'

Eric scowled more deeply, and muttered something disagreeable, then crawled into the hole first, as if to show them all he wasn't afraid.

There was a few seconds of silence after he vanished.

'Um, Eric? Eric are you still there?' asked Hank.

There was no answer.

'Eric?'

The Cavalier suddenly poked his head back through.

'What are you doing standing around?' he asked. 'If we're gonna go, let's go!'

'Who are we to argue!' said Hank, sighing and taking a glance at the ceiling in mock despair. 'Let's go!'

He waved the Barbarian forward.

* * *

The Arch-Mage had watched them standing in the street awaiting the Thief with increasing amusement. He had seen them talk; he had seen them stand, or pace; and he could feel their growing sense of helplessness. The Ranger in particular had seemed ill at ease from the moment the Thief had raised her hood and vanished. 

It had been a most entertaining time, for not only did he had a chance to observe his young enemies as they were at ease, he also had the opportunity to observe them in battle.

Venger had been aware of the presence of the Wererats for some minutes before the creatures had finally decided to attack. It had amused him greatly to watch the brief struggle when the children were taken by surprise. The Ranger had obviously been too distracted by the absence of the Thief to give proper consideration to their situation; and to setting a lookout!

Again, it was another that had paid the price for their leader's inattentiveness. Those creatures would only attack those they though easy prey; which those accursed children were without a proper guard.

Observing the battle, the Arch-Mage saw the Wererat lunge at the Cavalier, but had hesitated only momentarily before acting. It had only taken an insignificant amount of magic to deflect the blow a fraction, an amount hardly detectable to anything nearby.

Though it came as a surprise, it was an easy decision.

After all, he had wanted them to know he was back, and that he had outwitted them. He wanted them to be locked within Ur for the rest of their lives. And, more to the point perhaps, death at the hand of a Wererat was too easy for that insolent, disdainful child; the one who had masqueraded as the Dungeonmaster and defeated him at Darkhaven!

Yes, it was an easy decision.

Though he was surprised at the reappearance of their Thief, he had still followed at a discrete distance as she had led them to the secret entrance. One by one, the group had disappeared.

The tunnel was narrow; too narrow for him to fit in his current form, but that was not going to prevent him from continuing his quest. Again, it required only a minute amount of his power. He returned to the main entrance, murmuring the words of an ancient spell, and the gargoyles on the outer walls ignored him as he approached the doors.

Quietly, he opened the doors and slipped inside.

There was a dark alcove close to the doorway and he waited there as the children and their companion searched the rest of the Vault. No one even came close to where he was hidden, and he could observe their actions with impunity.

He watched them search fruitlessly for the entrance to the Inner Vault with a cold smile. Perhaps he had underestimated them. Perhaps their luck had finally run out! Perhaps they were not as clever as he had thought they were! But in due course they discovered the secret of the Statue, even though the creature had mistranslated the inscription, for it said "Sound, not Silence".

Venger watched with mild distain as the child amongst children, the diminutive Barbarian, struck the opening note.

That one was just as annoying and insolent as his sister! The Arch-Mage had not forgotten the cause of the destruction of his Prison of Agony. It had taken him years to create that place; decades of hard work and planning had gone into it, until it was perfect.

Then all it had taken was one day! He had held those accursed children for less than one day, then it was all gone!

The mountain was destroyed, along with his beautiful fortress and prison, the prisoners all escaped. Some of them had taken years to catch. And even now, that insolent knight, Strongheart, still evaded recapture.

But, worst of all, was that the imbecilic giant Karox was free to rule his kingdom in peace thanks to that amulet from the Barbarian. He couldn't even exact any revenge on him!

Watching the child made Venger frown, the burning desire for revenge growing within his chest. How simple it would be to send a short burst of magic at the young boy; perhaps change to gong from metal to glass so it shattered on contact with the Club, maybe even making the gong disappear completely; or perhaps destroy that unicorn he loved so much.

An evil smile spread across his face at that thought. Before the Dragon's Graveyard, he had taken great pleasure in hurting the beast. Perhaps now it was time to do it again.

Perhaps.

But no.

Though the destruction of the unicorn would undoubtedly give him a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction, it would all be for nothing if the children still endured.

_They had to know it was he, Venger, that had defeated them; they had to see him victorious with their own eyes! _

So instead of acting at that instant, he waited as the group left the Vault through the new exit in the wall, soothing his anger with thoughts of the delicious revenge. There would be opportunities later, to settle the score with the Young Ones!

Only when there was silence did he leave the alcove and follow them.

* * *


	4. Small Steps

Chapter 4

Small Steps

Diana was at the back of the group in the tunnel. They walked in single file, Eric at the front, just before Bobby and Uni, then Hank and Sheila, Thom then Presto. They stayed quiet, as no one seemed to be in the mood for chatting.

These tunnels were a lot darker. The supernatural light that had spread over everything was gone, much to her relief; it was difficult and unsettling enough in Ur without that dead, grey light. Instead, they used the light from Hank's Bow to show the way.

The atmosphere was cool and felt as if this place hadn't been disturbed for centuries; it was so still, it was almost like the air was frozen in place. The walls themselves were made on the same kind of stone as the Vault, grey and white, but she didn't want to touch them, all the same. She could smell dust and the damp, earthy smell that was common in dungeons and any sound they made as they walked seemed to be swallowed up by the walls. But at least this tunnel was much wider than the last one, and there was no danger of anyone getting stuck!

They walked for about ten minutes, the tunnel sloping down all the time, leading them deeper underground. The Acrobat tried not to worry about how far they had gone, and how difficult it would be to get out, as well as how much time they had _already_ spent in this awful city. How much time did they have left? How would they know, when no one had a watch, and no on could see the sky and the stars? She had asked Hank, but he hadn't given her a very straight answer.

At last the tunnel started to widen out, and they paused. Ahead, the ground levelled off and they seemed to be at the start of another Crypt.

'We haven't met any bad guys yet,' said Hank quietly, 'but that's no reason to get lazy.' He gave Eric a sly glance that Diana noticed but, fortunately, the Cavalier didn't. 'We need to stick together, and keep our eyes open.'

He held up the Bow and arrow, filling the tunnel ahead with its golden light. Not much further on, the tunnel stopped being a tunnel altogether, as it opened out into a wider area, but it was difficult to see what was there, if anything, because of the low light levels. Hank wouldn't have fired the arrow, as he didn't want to risk drawing _too_ much attention to them. After all, anything could be down here!

They moved on, guided by Hank, and moving cautiously. There was a more pronounced smell now, more damp and earthen, and the walls the Acrobat could see glinted in the flickering light, as if covered in a thin layer of slime.

Suddenly, she realised she could only see one wall, the one on her left, and she called out to Hank to stop.

'We need to see where we are,' she said. 'Try a little more light.'

Hank frowned, obviously weighing up the dangers, then he pulled back on the Bow. It didn't give much more light, but it was enough to see they were definitely no longer in the tunnel.

They were in a graveyard.

Diana couldn't see across to the other side, it was too dark, but she could make out small stone coffins lined up in rows, and some larger mausoleums with higher roofs. There were too many to count, some large, some small, some plain, some ornate; but all of them were different. Beside her, Presto shifted nervously.

No one moved as they looked out, and they waited in awed and uncomfortable silence, the only noise was the gentle whines from Uni and she snuggled into Bobby's legs for protection. Sheila put her arm around her brother, and Hank took a small step nearer Sheila, and was almost going to put his arm round her in turn. Diana smiled. She didn't need to be told what was going on there!

They stood for a minute, then Thom looked up at Hank.

'You need to get to the other side, I think,' he said. 'Past those.'

'Great!' muttered Presto. 'I hate graveyards.'

Hank didn't turn round, but stared ahead and nodded. From what she could see, he wasn't exactly thrilled at the idea either.

'Well,' said Diana, 'we knew it was a Crypt when we came in!'

'That doesn't make me feel much better,' replied Presto with a thin smile.

Thom had already moved forward and the others moved too. Just to one side of her, Eric remained still staring at the tombs with a solemn expression that she had never seen before; he didn't seem aware of anything else.

'C'mon, Eric!' she said. 'Or do you wanna get left behind!'

The Acrobat had expected a quip or comeback, but the Cavalier just shrugged and followed her in silence.

She felt uneasy walking through the graveyard, and couldn't help looking at the tombs and graves. Some were carefully carved with pictures of flowers or buildings, and most had some sort of effigy on them. There was more of that strange writing too, perhaps names and dates of those now long since forgotten.

Diana hurried on, not wanting to stop. The others were setting a good pace, obviously not wanting to spend a moment longer than they had to in this eerie place.

Only Eric pause to look at the tombs every so often, an action that Diana found surprising. But he had been acting oddly since coming to Ur, odd even for a Cavalier. And just when she thought he was back to his usual, annoying and petulant self, too!

So she paused, and waited for him to catch up. They walked next to each other in silence for a while, but she could see he took an interest in what was around him. How he had changed; there had been a time when he ignored anything that didn't glint like gold!

She was about to tell him so, but just at the last moment, she didn't. There was a look on his face, so serious and responsible, a little like the one Hank often had or even Dungeonmaster (not that she would actually say that to his face!). She was sure that he would consider being like Hank an insult, and he had _hated _being compared their Guide, even when he had been the Dungeonmaster himself!

For once, she wasn't sure what to say. She didn't like Ur either, and she was worried. They were on a tight time limit; they still hadn't a clue where the two parts of the Key were or even the Locked Portal itself. It seemed hopeless! But she still felt they had to keep going, they had to try. They had to get home.

Eric was still looking pensive. Diana smiled. They were friends and the simple, straightforward way they'd talked had always worked well before.

'I know something's up,' she said. 'Why don't you talk to me? Tell me what's wrong and maybe I can help.'

The Cavalier was visibly relieved, and maybe embarrassed too, so he quickly replied:

'I don't know, Diana, I'm not sure I can explain it.' He paused, but she resisted the temptation to rush in and ask another question. 'It sounds dumb. Something feels wrong, something feels…'

Eric suddenly crossed his arms, looking angry. Beside him was a large vaulted tomb, with writhing nymphs on the columns that seemed to be gathering flowers. The intricacy of the workmanship seemed so out of place, and only heightened her sense of apprehension.

'It's not danger just… as if something is watching us. I've only felt it once before; when I was Dungeonmaster.'

Again, Eric paused, and Diana knew better than to interrupt him now. He so very rarely talked about that day. She wasn't sure why, it was so unlike him to boast. He had been one of the most powerful, if not THE most powerful person in the Realm for a day, and that was something he should have boasted about endlessly. But he didn't. In fact, this was the first time Diana had heard him mention it. Maybe it was something he wanted to forget, but the impression she got was that it hurt too much to remember.

She was on the verge of asking him all about it, but she stopped. Wasn't she just the same? Didn't it hurt when she remembered? It wasn't just the pain of losing Kosar; it was more than that. Something much deeper, something much closer to her soul than her heart.

She had stood in the Temple of Light with the power to do almost anything. She could still remember the tremendous feeling of happiness as she'd opened the portal, to let her and her friends home at long last. Power had flowed through her in a way that nothing else had, and nothing else ever would. Then she had looked down as Sheila spoke, seeing him lying there, unconscious and dying in the Thief's arms, it had all…

_No!_ she thought, stopping the memory. There was more to think about at the moment, there were other things to focus on. She turned back to the young man next to her, forcing herself to concentrate on what he had said.

She looked at him, his face half hidden in shadow. There were times when this situation between them would have seemed ridiculous, or impossible. There were so many times (so, so many) when he'd been such a pain; so selfish and so irritating. Looking at him now was like looking at a total different person.

But then, was that such a surprise, after all that had happened to him recently? Since he'd opened the Box of Balefire, he'd had nothing but trouble!

They walked on in silence while she wondered, Eric seemed content to stop talking, but Diana felt there was more to say.

'You still haven't really told me what's wrong,' she said eventually.

He gave a little snort.

'Can't get anything past you, can I?' Self-consciously, he reached up to touch the cut on his neck, a little dried blood flaking away. She wondered if it was still hurting.

'I almost got my head chopped off,' he said. 'But there was something else at that time, something… something like magic. It… sorta… oh, I don't know! I suppose it could have been anything, but…' He trailed off. 'I said it sounded dumb!'

'It's not dumb,' she insisted, even though she wasn't entirely sure of that statement herself.

He gave her a quizzical look, tinged with the sarcasm that she so easily recognised now; the one he was so good at! It was as if he was daring her to finish the sentence with a quip. How could she refuse?

'It's not dumb, it's ridiculous!'

Eric gave a short laugh, and smiled. Diana was pleased with the reaction, she hated it when he moped around all the time! She smiled back.

Suddenly, she realised they were lagging a good way behind the others, who had been forced to stop and wait for them. Flashing him a bright grin, Diana sprinted off, with Eric stumbling along behind, probably cursing his armour yet again.

'Any time you're ready!' said Hank in mock rebuke. He glanced behind her, looking for the Cavalier.

'D'ya recon he's forgotten how to run?' asked Bobby. 'He's sure taking his time!'

'What are you all staring at me like that for,' Eric demanded, as soon as he was close enough.

'We thought you'd be interested in this,' said Hank, pointing to the far wall. 'Thom thinks we should go over there, there should be some steps.'

Eric favoured their guide with the disgruntled look he usually saved for Dungeonmaster, and Hank quickly moved off, before either of them started to argue. Despite Eric's reservations, they did find a set of narrow, spiral stairs that curled upwards cut out of the rock, partially hidden behind one of the last tombs.

Thom sprang lightly forward and started to climb. Hank followed, as did the others, then Diana, with Eric still at the back.

The climb was hard going, though they had spent the previous who-knows how long running round the Realm. Even Diana, still the fittest by far, was getting out of breath. Ahead, she had lost sight of the others, as the steps wound round in a tight spiral, but she could hear Presto panting not far in front. She had the feeling they were being lead on to nowhere, and had almost convinced herself that the steps would end at a blank wall and they would have to go all the way back down! To keep her mind off that possibility, and worrying about what the time was, she started to think up amusing ways of teasing Eric about being last again.

At last, she heard Presto say something that sounded a lot like "thank goodness that's over", and she sped up. She was just able to hear Thom say apologetically:

'Oh dear! It wasn't supposed to be like this!'

Diana frowned, not sure what to make of that statement. Thom was a strange person. Her instincts were warning her that something wasn't right about his attitude, but she couldn't put her finger on exactly what it was. He'd been helpful (in his own unique way), he hadn't attacked them, or hindered them. In fact, he'd put himself out to show them the way. Maybe it was just that he was awkward around others, having been on his own for so long. He was difficult company, and she could tell the others didn't know what to make of him either!

She made an effort to speed up, to see what was ahead. It was much lighter at the top, and they were back in the cold grey light. The stairs opened out into another room, though it wasn't much like any of the "rooms" before. The moist, earthy smell was much stronger, like in a greenhouse, and it was much hotter. It was no surprise to see a thick forest of tangled plants and branches at the far end. It was difficult to make out what was what, and the path through was almost overgrown.

The others were waiting at the top, a short distance away from the dark stairwell.

'Maybe it's a garden of remembrance,' suggested Sheila.

'It's not like any garden I've ever seen,' said Presto, 'I think some of those things are moving!'

Diana looked more closely, and realised the Magician was right. As she watched, thin, barbed tendrils coiled lazily out from the greenery.

Behind her, Eric slowly staggered up the steps.

'Need an elevator,' he wheezed, leaning forward to catch his breath.

'You're just lazy,' said Bobby. 'We're all ok!'

Eric murmured something that contained the word "armour", but he seemed too tired to continue the argument.

'Hey! What's that?' said Presto suddenly. 'I saw something flash! There!'

Diana looked to were Presto was pointing. Through the sea of plants she could almost make out something shiny.

'Is that the Key?' Hank asked Thom, but he just shrugged, seemingly more interested in the plants nearby than having a conversation. It would be nice if he kept his mind on what was going on!

'I think it's the Key,' said Sheila with surprising firmness. 'It was shining like that in the picture.'

'Picture?' repeated Hank.

'The one back in the…'

The last word was covered by a sharp hiss, as Thom backed away from one of the giant plants just as it seemed to take a swipe at him.

'But how are we gonna get through, Hank?' asked Sheila. 'That's the only way, unless you want to go back.'

'We're here now,' said Diana. 'We should find out what that thing is!'

Hank nodded, and fired an arrow. It did cut through the plants, but they quickly grew back, leaving no trace of anything having happened.

'Try the Hat,' he suggested to Presto.

He stepped forward, waving his hand over the Hat, but the instant it started to glow, all the plants moved towards it. He backed away, letting the magic die down. The plants retreated.

'The Hat's no use with this,' the Magician replied. 'Those things react to magic. And besides, we'd need a vat of weedkiller!'

'What about fire?' said Bobby.

'Even if we did get it alight, which would be tough enough, we'd all suffocate,' replied Hank with a frown.

The Acrobat looked round at the others. The less-than-agile Presto would be easy pickings for a hungry plant, Eric was too out of breath, and probably too slow, to get through, even if he could be persuaded to try. Shelia was quick and she had the Cloak, but the plants could sense magic, it seemed and she would be vulnerable. Bobby would want to stop and squish everything with the Club, and Uni would probably have to be carried. She even had her doubts about Hank, he would be in his "I'm the leader, I have to protect everyone and do everything myself" mood. She had no doubt that Thom would simply refuse. There was only one thing to do.

'Why don't I try and get through,' said Diana suddenly.

Hank smiled at her, grateful she'd spoken.

'Do you think you can?'

She nodded.

'I'm sure I can avoid them. I can see what's ahead, maybe find a safer passage.'

'Are you sure?' This time, Hank's voice was lower, and much more serious. In spite of her light tone, Diana knew this was not going to be easy.

'Don't worry,' she said. 'I know what I'm doing!'

He knew he better than to ask her again. He would have been worried, and made an excellent attempt at hiding it. But she knew him better than that!

She handed him the Javelin from her belt.

'You'd better keep this until I get back.' She grinned. 'Don't look so worried!'

Without waiting for his reply, she moved forward.

In front of her was the tangle of green, but there was some sort of order, and also a pathway of some kind. From just a cursory glance there were at least ten different kinds of plant, some were tall and thick, like cacti with no spikes, some were just a mess of thin tendrils, and some were like trees with dark round leave. As she moved closer, the smell became sweeter, and much stronger, and she rubbed her nose gently with the back of her hand, fighting the urge to sneeze.

There was a path, made of the same marble as before, and there was soggy earth on either side for the plants. But it was slippery underfoot, as the path was covered in a thin later of yellow dust (that was probably pollen, judging but the smell) and it was wet. Without the lure of magic nearby, the plants seemed sluggish, moving only very slightly.

She was close, and could see the path lead off to the right. She could even make out another small statue not far ahead. The plants still hadn't moved, and she guessed they weren't aware of her presence, just yet at any rate; but touching them would be a bad idea. She'd been caught by plants before, and it wasn't pleasant!

For a moment, Diana wished she'd kept the Javelin, but she knew that it would only have attracted more attention. She was just going to have to do this the old-fashioned Earth way: _Very carefully_.

Her body tense, she stepped over the closest tendril. It didn't even twitch. She had to duck down quickly, and bend left, using the floor for support. She was ok. It was gonna work!

Over the next twenty minutes she moved deeper into the plants' domain, moving carefully and only stopping to check the path ahead. She passed the statue, and then another and a small, empty fountain. In some ways, it was easier than she'd thought, the plants didn't grow as thickly as she'd first assumed. But in other ways, it was harder, there was much more of this garden than it looked from the stairwell and she was getting tired. Though she moved slowly, her muscles were working as hard as if she was running a marathon! She was also finding it harder and harder to keep her balance, the path became wetter and sticky with pollen, but she was getting covered in the horrible stuff too! She had already wobbled once, coming within a fraction of her shoulder brushing against a thick, spiny branch.

So deep inside, the air was heavier and more oppressive than before, and she had to struggle for breath. But another feeling had grown as she'd made her way through the undergrowth. _What was it Eric had said? He'd felt "evil"?_ This place felt evil too, as if something cunning was lying in wait for her, just around the corner. All it would take was on small scare, or lapse of concentration, and she would slip!

The only thing that made her feel better was the glittering light not far in front of her. Presto and Sheila had been right. There definitely _was_ something here.

Every step (slow and painful though it was) took her closer to her goal, and the closer she got, the clearer she could see. There was an alcove at the back, free of plants, and a pedestal inside. And something on that pedestal glowed.

The Acrobat took her time now; easing her was past every branch and tendril seemed more difficult than before. She was tired and hot, perspiration all over her body from the exertion; she was sore, and she was so very close to her goal. There could be no mistakes. But she focused her mind on the task, not thinking about the reward, only thinking about the movements she was making. She twisted and crawled and manoeuvred herself past the final few plants, drawing on all her stamina and experience as an athlete. It would only take one mistake.

She had to reach over the last one at full stretch, taking most of her weight on one arm and leg as she slowly moved herself between to spiked branches. _This is the last one, just one more, don't lose it now. Don't lose it._

It was over. She'd done it! She was through!

For a few seconds, Diana knelt on the ground catching her breath and letting her body rest, then she glanced back to try and see the others. It surprised her how far she'd gone, she could just make out the occasional glimpse of Eric's yellow armour in the distance. How the rest were ever gonna make it through, she didn't know!

The alcove was completely clear of any plants. Relieved, Diana pushed herself up and quickly walked over to the Plinth. On it was a plain, crystal box, and inside the box was a piece of the Key, shining with a pure pale gold light.

'Thank goodness!' she whispered.

After wiping her hands free of the pollen, she carefully lifted up the box and gave it a little shake. It was heavier than she'd thought and the Key inside rattled around with a light tinging noise. She turned the box over a number of times, but couldn't see any way of getting it open.

As she stood there looking at it, she shivered, suddenly aware of a breeze. She moved to the back and saw a narrow opening in the far wall. Inhaling, she recognised the smell of dust from before. It led back outside again!

Pleased at their good luck, she grinned for a moment, then remembered about the others. Those plants were gonna have them for lunch!

Holding the box tightly, she stepped back, to look round, hoping to see another way out. But as she moved the plants moved too… _away_ from her.

With a frown, she held the box out, hardly able to believe it would be that simple. The plants nearby recoiled, almost cowering. Still unsure, she took a tentative step forward, wondering if this was some sort of clever trap.

But the plants definitely pulled away, letting her pass with ease all the way back to the others. The look of surprise on Hank's face as she appeared made her laugh out loud. She waved, but only Presto and Bobby waved back. Thom just stared incredulously at her.

'Look!' she said excitedly. 'I found it!' They huddled round the box in her hand, Hank giving her shoulders a quick squeeze and he grinned at her, handing her back the Javelin. 'And there's a way out at the back too.'

'Just as well,' muttered Eric sourly.

'But how do we get it out?' asked Bobby, staring at the Key.

'How about we smash it,' said Eric, sarcastically.

'And how do we get past the plants?' asked Sheila. 'Will it work for all of us?'

Diana looked down at the box and Key in her hands. It was powerful, that was for sure! Presto peered at it.

'Must be too powerful for those things to even think about attacking,' he said.

'But plants don't _think_,' said Eric.

'Must mean you're a plant,' she quipped back instantly.

The others laughed.

'They just react to magic,' said Presto. 'If it's too strong they retreat.'

Everyone looked at Hank. He looked back at Diana.

'If we keep together it'll work,' she said. She saw Hank nod.

'You had better not delay,' said Thom suddenly. 'The chime will be soon.'

'Chime?' asked Hank.

'Midnight,' he said. 'Half-way.'

Diana saw a flicker of anger cross the Ranger's face. It crossed her mind then, to wonder what else the creature had forgotten to tell them. Why hadn't Thom mentioned it before?

'Why didn't you say that before?' demanded Eric.

Thom ignored him and Hank tactfully didn't let the awkward silence last.

'Thom's right, we've gotta go. Lead on, Diana.'

'Everyone, say close together,' she said. 'And that includes you, Eric!'

'Yeah, yeah,' muttered the Cavalier, but he took a step closer to Sheila and Hank anyway.

Huddled together close to the box, they walked slowly forward. The plants never threatened them, or even came close. She was relived, after all the trouble she'd had getting through in the first place. Had anything gone wrong, it would have been almost impossible to get free. She wanted to go faster, as the plants were making her increasingly uneasy. It was almost as if she was being watched; though plants didn't couldn't "see", in the back of her mind was a pair of glowing, red eyes.

It took about five minutes to get to the alcove, and she pointed out the opening at the back.

Hank cautiously drew an arrow and stepped forward, taking the lead again. He signalled them to move forward, through a narrow crack in the wall. Outside, they crossed a dead garden to reach a set of half-open, wrought gates that swung on rusty hinges. One by one, they passed through, and gathered at the other side of the walls. They were in a small alleyway, at a dead end. Diana smiled. At least they knew which way to go first!

And they had done it, they had passed safely though the Crypt and found the first section of the Key! She opened her mouth to speak, when there was a slight scuffing noise from above made her turn to look behind. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Hank turning at the same time, than someone screamed.

Perched on the top of the wall, as if waiting for them, were Ratmen. As she watched more of them seemed to be coming out of the nearby doors, crawling over the top of wall railings and through the windows.

For a heartbeat, none of the kids moved.

'_RUN_!'

* * *

The tombs of the once great and glorious held no fear for him. Venger knew the ignorant superstitions of humans; he had been quick to note the children's dislike of the Hall of Bones, despite the fact that it contained only good spirits. They were uneasy in the dark under the city, and as he followed them, he could feel their fear, even from so far behind.

He continued to shadow them, watching the group talk, stop and start; thinking how absurdly easy it would be to pick them off one by one, starting at the back with the fool of a Cavalier!

By the time they had reached the spiral stairs, he was sorely tempted to do just that. But close by, somewhere above him, he could feel the gentle thrum of pure magic, and knew the Key was calling out.

So he let them climb the stairs unharmed, and continued to follow.

They were so intent on the plants at the top, that he was able to stand in the deep shadow of the stairwell unnoticed.

They were fascinating creatures, these children. He didn't understand what drove them on, they urges and impulses that they had, but it was clear that would do anything to get back to their homeworld. Such drive. Such confidence. Such passion and such fire in the hearts of each one of them. No matter what the problem or setback, somehow they would overcome it.

He scowled as the Acrobat moved forward, so confident even though she had no comprehension of what lay ahead. Those plant were all lethal, one touch and she would be dead before she realised what had happened. How she had survived without even the Javelin as an aid, he did not know.

There had been two occasions when he had been sorely tempted to intervene to tip a branch, or make her slip; how amusing it would have been to watchthe Acrobat die in an instant, andthen be ripped apart and devoured; the reaction of her friends would have been most interesting.

Yet he had marvelled at her skill and precision. The strain of such a dangerous exercise was enormous for such a mortal creature, but she did not fail. And only when she had returned with the Key did the anger start to build significantly.

_That look…_

Though she had lost that day in Turad, she'd had no idea how much trouble the defeat of the Demon had caused him. The city was rich and powerful, and situated in a vital part of the Realm. Even though they were enemies of a sort, for a long time he had been able to use the Demon to his advantage.

Now, that was gone. The city was under the _benevolent_ rule of the Prince and the King; and those two fools were obdurate in their opposition. His hold over the lands beyond had begun to slip. The supplies had started to dwindle, he had to send more and more Orcs to replace the ones killed in the many skirmishes. And it would only get worse as the King grew in confidence and skill.

The Acrobat had no idea what she had done!

But that was not the only time she had disrupted his plans.

The Crystal of Kronos had been almost impossible to locate, and equallydifficult to retrieve. The time, energy and magic he'd expended to find it was more than with any other object in the Realm; constructing the deadly Maze of Darkness seemed effortless in comparison.

He had no doubt who it was that had infected the human he'd retrieved with it. The Acrobat, with her innocent eyes and despicably _kind_ heart was the instigator of his rebellion. The way the pilot had looked at her as he stepped into the plane should have warned him!

Now the groupwas gone, and the foliage had grown back to cover their path. But as his anger had grown, so had his radiant power, and they shrank back at his approach, valuing their pitiful existence over annihilation at his eager hand. He reached the alcove, and paused, sensing unusual movement ahead.

They were here again.

_Wererats!_ A whole host of Wererats!

Cautiously, so as not to be seen, the Arch-Mage moved forward. Through the gates he could see the children, not yet aware of the creatures.

Covered by shadow, he moved closer, when a scream cut through the still air. He saw the Ranger hesitate, looking around in desperation.

'RUN!'

The willingness of the Ranger to retreat came as a surprise, but the children turned at the command, tearing down the street, as the Wererats flowed like water after them.

One of the creatures saw him, but instead of attacking, it paused. Others noticed, and turned as well. One after another, the Wererats turned back, leaving the children to run.

Whispers spread quickly through the unruly mob of Rats. They were casting nervous glances at each other, afraid. And he would use that to his best advantage!

Yes, they were very afraid. They were absolutely terrified of him, and of his power. They cowered in front of him, their willingness to serve obvious from their demeanour.

How fortunate for him. And how _unfortunate_ for those children!

* * *


	5. Let it Come Down

Chapter 5

Let it Come Down

Why hadn't he _learned_! How could he have been so _careless_!

'RUN!' bellowed Hank.

All those Ratmen just sitting there waiting for them to appear; they were trapped in a dead end, even with the light of his Bow, some of them would still get close enough to attack. They had no option, they could only retreat!

Seeing the others ahead, running for their lives, Hank cursed himself again.

The Ratmen were following. He could hear the light snarls and the light sound of their feet as they scampered along the road in pursuit. They kept going, as fast as they could, not really caring where they went as long as they didn't get trapped. They had to keep going. They had to run and keep running. He didn't dare look back, he didn't dare look to see how many there were…

Ahead, Diana was in the lead, then Bobby and the unicorn, Thom and Presto and Sheila. He ran on and on, hoping against all the odds that…

_Where was Eric?_

Hank swore, fortunately too out of breath to be heard. Why did it always have to be him! _How many times had this happened? How many times had he been left behind. He was the slowest, he was the weakest, he was…_

The Ranger forced himself to turn and look.

…_walking behind?_

The Cavalier was staggering along, waving at them, too out of breath to shout. But much more importantly than that, there were no Ratmen to be seen anywhere! The street behind was totally empty but for Eric.

'Guys! Guys! Stop!' Hank called out, sliding to a halt.

He turned as fast as he could and ran back to the Cavalier, feeling very confused. Just moments before they had been running for their lives!

'Try… to… get… atten… tion… for…ages' Eric wheezed. He flapped a limp hand behind him. 'Gone.'

Hank had to smile.

'Yes, they've gone,' the Ranger admitted. 'Sorry I didn't notice you sooner.'

He took Eric's arm, and helped him on, the others gathering around.

'Damn can… hardly breath,' Eric whispered. 'Armour… must be… getting… heavier.'

'Wh-what's going on?' gasped Sheila as she ran up to them. 'Did I just imagine all those Ratmen-things?'

Hank shook his head.

'No. I saw them too!'

'And me!' piped up Bobby. 'Where'd they all go?'

Everyone looked at the breathless Cavalier. The cut on his neck had started to bleed again, making a mess on his armour.

'Dunno,' he said. 'They… just seemed… to melt… away. Maybe… had something… better to do…'

At Eric's other side, Diana took his other arm.

'Just look at you,' she said playfully, 'You gonna blame the uniform again, Cavalier?' He just scowled at her, though he must have known it was a set up for another joke at his expense. 'We could swap if you like, Eric the Acrobat!'

Bobby gave a loud snigger and Uni joined in. Even Presto laughed.

But Hank wasn't listening any more as, at the back of his mind, he knew something was wrong. Those Ratmen had had a huge advantage over them. They shouldn't have just given up.

'We can't stop,' he said suddenly, interrupting the laughter of his friends. 'We have to keep going!'

Eric opened his mouth to argue (in what was probably just a reflex action) but he shut it again when he realised he agreed.

All this time, Thom had stood slightly apart from the group. The little creature didn't seem out of breath at all! He was watching them all with a strange gleam in his eyes, as if confused. He was waiting for them to move.

They _had_ to get out of this part of the city, those Ratmen could be back at any second! So, in spite of Eric's condition, they all set out at a light jog, but the Cavalier lagged at the back, Presto and Diana beside him.

After about half an hour, they came to another open park, with yet another statue in it and Hank let them stop. It would be easy enough to see any Ratmen that appeared. He put Diana and Bobby on watch, and let the others rest. Presto and Eric slumped down on the ground, the Cavalier was obviously exhausted and the Magician wasn't that much better. Hank tried not to think of what would happen if the Ratmen decided to attack at that particular instant. They were in very dangerous territory at the moment!

'What are we gonna do now?' asked Sheila at last. 'We have one section of the Key, but what about the other?'

Hank shook his head, not knowing what to say, and turned to Thom in the hope of getting some information from the creature. So far, he hadn't exactly "helpful", in the usual sense of the word. But still they had one piece and they were all still alive. He glanced at the Cavalier. Well, some were more alive than others!

Thom was watching him with a blank expression.

'Do you know where the other part is?' the Ranger asked.

Slowly and dramatically, Thom turned to point at one of the buildings on the horizon. One of the biggest. One of the most impressive. And, of course, one of the furthest!

'That is the Palace,' he said. 'The Key should be in there.'

It looked so far away and seemed to be right at the edge, as far away as possible from where they currently were. There was the question of time. He wished he knew what time it was, he hated not knowing how much time was left before Ur vanished once more. It was so dangerous, they had to get the Key, find the Portal and get home.

He closed his eyes. For a moment, he wished he'd never let them come here. He let the silence last for another, blissful, minute.

'We can't stay here,' he said. 'We should get going.'

With varying degrees of reluctance, the group stood up and moved off, heading towards the Palace. It was a difficult place to miss, it towered above the other buildings nearby and was the most prominent building of the cityscape.

But getting to it was a different matter.

It was easy enough to start off with as they walked through the style of streets they were used to, but they soon came to an older section, perhaps the oldest part of the city. The houses were small and cramped; the streets were narrow and invariably stopped suddenly at a dead end. They must have walked twice as far as necessary with all the backtracking. Thom wasn't much help. He said he'd rarely been in this part.

And all the time, Hank was expecting more Ratmen to appear.

It was getting harder to concentrate, the more time they wasted. They deserved to get back this time. They had done so much, endured so much that he really felt they'd earned it, especially after helping the Fairie Dragons get home then destroying the mirror to ensure their safety. At that thought, he took a glance at the Cavalier, and his eye was drawn to the cut on Eric's neck. Eric was mooching along, looking tired and generally miserable, and Hank was just about to speed up to talk to him when Sheila appeared at his side.

He felt a beautiful, warm glow through his chest when he saw her smile the pure, wondrous, _special_ smile that she only ever gave to him. He smiled back. They didn't need to speak and just walked side by side. Behind, he noticed Presto and Diana looking at them, but he didn't care.

Getting home, getting away from this place and all its responsibilities had much more meaning now. They could stop pretending they didn't care about each other. Everything could change.

Ignoring the others, and any worries or fears about what they would say, he slipped his arm round the Thief's shoulders and pulled her closer, letting her lean against him. That she loved him as he loved her was almost too wonderful to be true.

All the time, they were heading towards the Palace, though in a roundabout kind of way. And at last their effort was rewarded. Suddenly, and unexpectedly, they rounded a corner and found themselves out of the claustrophobic maze of tiny streets and on to a long, wide boulevard.

'All-riiiight!' said Bobby, pointing. 'Look!'

At the far end was the distinctive shape of the Palace, with nothing standing it their way.

'Thank goodness that's over,' said Presto. 'I was beginning to fell like a lab rat!'

'You'd never pass for one of them,' said Eric. 'No whiskers.'

The two of them smiled at the lame joke, and Hank did too. Eric was obviously feeling better if he was back to teasing Presto!

'Well, come on!' said Hank 'Let's go!'

They walked with more purpose again, and there was a more buoyant mood amongst the kids. The road was wider and freer than before. And they were definitely heading in the right direction!

He didn't pay much attention to the boulevard, except to keep a sharp eye out for Ratmen. He did notice more dead trees outside the doors, and the narrow, fluted columns of the windows. The road itself was made of smooth, flawless stone, with hardly a chip or scratch or scuffmark, almost as if it had not been made to walk on. But Thom didn't seem bothered, and Hank tried to reassure himself that Thom knew what he was doing.

It took ten minutes to reach the outside of the Palace, awe and apprehension growing in equal measure as they went.

It was soon obvious that the Palace was huge. It was tall and grey, with an ornate frontage similar to the Crypt, except with abstract carvings; swirls and arches rather than figures and gargoyles. There was a great set of double doors at the front, made of silver that had tarnished with age.

They all stopped of their own accord outside the entrance, and Hank knew they were all wondering what sort of magical trap and devices were hidden inside.

'It is not going to eat you,' said Thom after the extended silence. 'Go on then!'

Surprised at the comment, Hank nevertheless moved forward, signalling to the others to follow. At the doors, he and Eric pushed them open and they swung in perfect silence.

'That's never a good sign,' muttered the Cavalier to no one in particular.

Hank ignored him, but he couldn't help agreeing.

Inside the Palace, it was very still. They were in a vast entrance hall and they each took a moment to look round in awe. Like everywhere in Ur, it seemed, the interior decoration was perfect; beautifully proportioned, with statues, carefully constructed arches, columns and alcoves. There was a huge mosaic on the floor that seem to be the size of a football field, with painted slabs, showing a strange, abstract design that had a vaguely Celtic feel to it. The colours seemed fresh, as if it had just been laid a few days before. High above, a few stained glass windows let a rainbow light into the hall, giving it a much brighter feel than the city outside.

The statues that lined the walls Hank took to be past Kings and Queens as they all wore crowns and had their own, small alcove. There was a single row of columns down the centre, each one carved into a different figure; some were male, some female, and some were of animals, but all were beautiful. They were so intricate and accurate that it seemed as though they could spring to life at any moment. He couldn't help stopping to stare.

It had been a long time since they'd been anywhere so beautiful and so tranquil. He'd enjoyed staying at Rhamoud's travelling palace, he'd liked the Keep at Tardos, but this was altogether a different place; mystical, mysterious, and magnificent.

'Just like the mansion back home, huh, Cavalier,' whispered Diana.

Eric just nodded absentmindedly. Diana looked annoyed that he didn't make a better response.

But for all the beauty, there was no clue as to where they other part of the Key could be. He could see three main exits from the hall, not counting the silver doors, and there were a few doors half-hidden behind statues. So many choices, and no hints or riddles to help them.

Again, he resisted the temptation to split up. They couldn't risk it, this place was too big and they would never be able to find each other again if they did. He could see the look on Diana's face, and he knew what she was going to say.

'We can't stand around any more,' he said decisively, trying not to catch Diana's eye. 'We're going that way.'

He pointed straight ahead, and was relieved that Thom didn't disagree.

'But why are yo…' started Presto. But he stopped when he saw the look on Hank's face.

With a determined frown, Hank strode forward. He would have expected Eric to voice his disagreement and dissatisfaction, but the Cavalier only followed silently.

If he'd thought the alleyways before were bad, it soon became clear that this Palace was a thousand times worse! At least before they had been able to see where they were headed!

They wandered around, looking in rooms and going down random corridors without any real progress or any real sense of where they were supposed to be going. Hank knew time was passing, and it felt like the opportunity was slipping away with every footstep.

They were going round in circles; well, Hank wished they were, so that then they would at least have some idea of where they were. But they never seemed to pass the same section twice, all the statues and murals and painting were always different.

'It's like being trapped in a museum,' muttered Presto at one point. 'An infinite one!'

The Ranger knew the others were getting nervous and frustrated. Uni was whining softly, and Eric had started to grumble to himself. There had to be a way, but Thom seemed totally uninterested in helping them at the moment. He just prowled after them, looking at the statues and paintings as they did, and not offering any help when prompted. Hank tried not to scowl at the creature, knowing it wasn't his fault. He'd guided them this far, but there seemed to be only so much he could do.

Eventually, after what seemed like hours of searching, Sheila stopped at one of the statues, gazing up at it with a quizzical look on her face.

'That's the Knight,' she said as he walked up to her. There was a strange tone in her voice, soft and sad. 'He was in the picture.'

'Picture?'

'The one from before, remember' she said, sounding a touch exasperated. 'I think it's a clue.'

Hank noticed Thom give a little snort. But this statue did seem a touch newer than most of the others, and more lifelike. And even though he didn't understand what Sheila was talking about, he was inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt. She looked at the statue intently.

'He's pointing at something,' she said. 'I'm sure he is.'

Without waiting to hear what the others had to say, she walked off down the corridor. Bemused by her actions, though not as scornful at Thom, Bobby, Presto and Diana all looked at him. He shrugged.

'Look over here, guys,' she called suddenly. 'A door.'

'Great, another one!' said Eric flatly. 'It's not like we haven't seen any of those today!'

The door in question was quite plain and unassuming, not even something the Ranger would have noticed unless it was pointed out. Sheila had tried the handle by the time they caught up with her, and behind it was a set of spiral steps, that led down.

This discovery seemed like progress. These were the first stairs they'd found in the Palace, and they had been down steps to find the other piece of the Key. Though it wasn't much, it was at least _something!_ Well, that's what he told himself, anyway.

It was only a short set of stairs, and the soon came out in a dark tunnel. Heading towards the wider end, they passed more doorways and more steps. At last they rounded a corner and came to a set of metals bars, like a prison cell, that blocked the way forward, with a narrow gate just off-centre. There was a sign on it that Thom translated as "Treasury".

'That sounds hopeful,' said Diana brightly. 'If there was something worth hiding, this is the best place!'

Hank nodded.

'And the best guarded,' added Presto darkly.

Bobby stepped forwards to open the gates with a swing of the Club, but Hank held up his hand to stop him. He gave the gate a tentative shove and it opened. He could tell Bobby was disappointed, and he gave the Barbarian a grin.

'Hey,' he said 'It'll be your turn next time!'

Beyond the gates was another wide room carved out of rock, more like a cave except for the neat, arched doors, and not what he expected a Treasury to be like at all!

It wasn't a large as the entrance hall, or as well decorated, just dusty and old, and looked as it some of the walls and roof had crumbed away over time. Scattered around were some old crates down one side, and lining the walls were six more large statues, all of armoured women, and covered in cobwebs. It felt lifeless, but Hank was still on edge, thinking about what Presto had said. There could be anything waiting for them.

Looking back later, Hank tried to figure out what he should have done differently, but there was nothing obvious to alert him to danger. As they looked around, wondering which way to go, Diana suddenly said:

'It's glowing!'

They turned to look at the box she held out, and sure enough the Key inside was pulsing with light. Even Thom was staring at it. At that moment, Hank was tempted to go with Eric's sarcastic suggestion and break it.

As they looked, there was a painfully deep chime that suddenly rang out through the room. It was like the noise from the Rocks of Resonance, but much, much louder.

'Midnight,' whispered Sheila. She turned to look at him, her green eyes wide and anxious.

They were halfway through. It they turned back now, they would be sure of getting out. If not… there would be no guarantees.

Hank suddenly felt very alone, though he was with his four closest friends and the girl he loved. It was his responsibility to get them all out, and to keep them all safe. The call of home was almost overwhelming. But it was so dangerous. They had no idea what was ahead.

He hesitated, knowing that if he led, they would follow. _They could go on; they could go back._

The decision was made. They had no choice. They were going to go…

He was facing the way they'd come, and in spite of his introspection, he was watching out for Ratmen. Sure enough, just at that moment there was the slightest hint of movement from behind the gate, and Hank knew what it was.

They _could_ have run, but this was their best defensive position, as the opening of the Treasury was narrow, and relatively easy to block with energy arrows.

He pulled an arrow, stepping slightly back to get a better angle for the shot. Around him, the others all followed his lead; Bobby lifted the Club, Diana and Eric lifted their weapons too, taking a defensive stance beside him. Presto's Hat began to glow, and Sheila scooped the unicorn into her arms and flicked up the hood of her Cloak.

For a few seconds, they waited.

There was more movement from the tunnel, the glint of swords and the flash of white teeth. The Ratmen stopped out side the gate. He could only see about ten clearly, but he was sure that there must be a whole sea of them waiting behind.

'Hank?' whispered Diana uneasily.

He pulled the arrow further back, making it glow more brightly. Yes, there were more Ratmen, a lot more filling the tunnel they'd come down. And at the back, he was sure he saw something else, something bigger,more powerful and more menacing…

'Hank!' cried Presto. 'The statues!'

The Magician's tone made him turn to look. Close by, the six identical statues had started to move, lifting the swords they carried and stepping down gracefully from their pedestals. The cobwebs were gone and they were in full colour, as if they'd suddenly stepped out of a black and white film into real life. Their eyes glowed with a fierce, bright light.

He looked down at his Bow. Before, the plants had reated to magic; why had he thought it would be different here! His heart sank. They were trapped; they couldn't go on, and they couldn't go back either.

They had to fight!

He loosed the arrow, hoping to frighten the Rat-creatures, but they didn't back away this time. Bobby brought the Club crashing to the floor, making everything shake. The statues wobbled by didn't fall, and the Ratmen only paused.

But worse than that, there was an ominous creaking sound from the walls, light bits of dust trickling down in front of them. Bobby glanced up at him sheepishly.

Hank fired as fast as he could towards the gate, making a wall of arrows to try and keep them back.

The others didn't need to be told what to do. Diana moved quickly towards the nearest statue-woman; it was well over three times the size of her but she still didn't hesitate. But these stone creatures weren't like the other ones they'd faced, like the ones in the Valley of the Gnomes. These moved quickly and skilfully, intent on attacking them.

He turned away from the Rats to fire at the closest one of the statues. The energy arrow didn't hold it, or slow it down. He fired repeatedly at it, hoping it would break eventually; each time the arrows hit slight cracks appeared, but that was all.

Eric and Diana dived out of its way just as Bobby hit the ground again, causing everything to shake and more dust to fall. But the statues didn't stop and neither did the Ratmen.

Disorientated from the earthquake, Hank looked back to the gate, and started firing once again. The Rats were pushing against the energy bars, draining the energy somehow, and one by one the arrows were dissolving. It was almost as if they were _eating_ them!

Just beside the wall, Hank could hear Presto saying a spell, then the Magician held his Hat out at one of the statues. A thunderous boom filled the cavern, and the statue exploded in a cloud of dust and stones.

_There were five left…_

Coughing from the dust, Hank turned back to see if the Ratmen had retreated. They were perhaps stunned, or surprised, but the scraping, gnawing sounds were still there. They were still working their way through the energy-bars! He fired another volley, then another, but there seemed to be more Rats than before.

The statues had turned to the Magician, swinging their swords. He ducked down behind Eric's Shield as the sword of the nearest one came crashing down, bringing the Cavalier to his knees with the force. Eric looked white as he held the Shield up, his eyes screwed shut with the effort.

Diana and Bobby rushed over and together they hit it, one leg each. The legs shattered and the torso hit the ground with a thump, sending more stones and dust into the air, and a few huge chunks of stone crashing to the ground.

_There were four left…_

It was getting harder to see, and the ground was now very uneven and dangerous with all the strewn debris. Hank shouted out a warning to be careful, but he wasn't sure anyone heard him.

Leaving the Ratmen for a few seconds, he turned and fired at the statues again, hoping to get their attention away from the others. It only partially worked, as just two of them turned back to face him, while the other two kept going towards Diana and Bobby.

'Bobby, move!' shouted Diana, lifting the Javelin. But the Barbarian was too cocky, and instead of retreating to join her, he ran forward to meet the statue full on, ignoring the other one. Diana ran too, and just moment before the statues sword connected with the Club, she tried to block the sword blow from behind, from the statue Bobby had ignored.

It only partially worked. The Javelin snapped, absorbing a lot of the force of the blow, but the Barbarian was knocked sideways into the wall.

'BOBBY!' squealed the invisible Thief from close by, but she didn't remove the hood. Hank knew she would be dashing to her brother's side, to help him up.

But directly in front of him, a statue was lifting its sword to strike at him. He dived out of the way, the sword splintering through the ground just inches from his leg. He fired a volley at one single point on the statue, the wrist of its sword arm, and it began to crack. As it pulled the sword out of the ground, the stone snapped suddenly and handless statue tottered backwards before toppling over and smashing on the ground.

_There were three left…_

Before he could feel relief, Presto called out, pointing.

'The gate!'

With a curse, the Ranger spun round. Those nasty little creatures were still gnawing at the bars, and there was a definite hole where they were beginning to break through.

He fired again, aware of the other statue close by deciding that the Ratmen needed his attention first. There was a flicker of white and orange as the unicorn darted out of the Thief's arms towards the Barbarian.

_Sheila…_he wished he could see her, and be sure she was ok.

The other two statues were closing in on Bobby, but Presto was getting closer all the time and Diana dashed across the debris to grab the two halves of the Javelin before joining him.

Hank heard an odd-sounding screech, and suddenly remembered Thom. He looked but there was too much, dust and stones to make out much. The creature was unarmed and if he had any sense he would have taken cover. The last thing Hank needed at the moment was more to worry about!

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a statue moving towards him, followed by a flash of yellow. Though the Statue was fast, Eric was faster.

Eric slithered to an unsteady halt just beside him, and the Ranger saw the Cavalier brace himself as the sword came swooping round. He looked more exhausted than before, sweat covering his face and the Shield held less high.

'Arrows,' Eric gasped, not looking at Hank but at the gate beyond.

The Ranger fired again at the gate, willing the arrows to be as big and strong as possible. But he was getting more tired as well, his arms were aching and the arrows were getting smaller. Very soon he wouldn't be able to pull arrows at all!

With a ringing clang the sword of the statue connected with the Shield, and Eric staggered back, slipping on the loose stones. The Ranger rolled, out of the way of both the Cavalier and the sword, and managed to keep on firing at the Ratmen.

There was another crashing noise from close by, and Hank risked a fleeting glance to see what caused it. The Magician had annihilated another statue, and it crashed backwards against one of the walls. But it had cost him a great deal of effort, Diana and Bobby were helping him to stand.

_There were two left…_

The other statue had been knocked back too, but not destroyed. Instead, it smashed into the crates at the far side. The scraps of wood flew everywhere.

There was a yelp of fright from the far side of the cave; a cry he recognised and that send a stab of cold fear straight through him. _Sheila!_

Hank was firing arrows as quickly as he could, but the Ratmen were still coming. Soon the force of numbers would break down his arrow gate. For every arrow he fired, two collapsed and fizzled out. It was only going to take a few more minutes! Assuming he survived another few minutes. _Where was Sheila?_

'Sheila!' called Eric. He was the closest, and he turned and ran, lifting the glowing Shield as he did so. 'Sheila, where are you!'

'Shei-la!' cried Bobby from behind.

'I'm stuck!' squealed the Thief, pulling back her Cloak. 'Over here!'

She seemed to be trapped under parts of the shattered crates, and the Ranger desperately wanted to rush to he side. But he still wasn't firing arrows fast enough to hold the Ratmen back. He had to stay, he had to keep them back until Sheila was free.

And then they had to get out of there!

Eric was kneeling beside Sheila, heaving the wood off. But the rescue hadn't gone unnoticed by the two remaining statue-women, and one started moving in their direction.

'Get outta there!' he called. 'NOW!'

With a grunt, Eric heaved the last part of the crate off the Thief and yanked her to her feet. The ground in front of them was covered in loose stones and rocks. They were moving too slowly, and the statue was getting closer!

'Bobby! Don't!' called Diana urgently.

But the Barbarian was desperate to help his sister and swung the Club at the ground regardless. A rain of grey dust came from the ceiling, making it even more difficult to see. Everyone staggered, and Sheila fell forwards, out of the protection of Eric's Shield. The Cavalier stayed standing, but only just. The statue wobbled too, but kept moving.

Hank turned and fired a volley at it, but that didn't stop the statue. It was almost on them, and Sheila was still unprotected.

He was too far away.

So was Bobby. And Diana. And Presto.

His heart screamed at him to move, but the excited yowls and snarls from the Ratmen made him turn. There were only a few arrows left holding them back!

As he forced himself to fire at the gate again, Diana threw the Javelin with all her might, striking the attacking statue on its neck. A jagged crack spread across sideways, effectively severing the head from the body. The statue slowed in its advance towards Sheila, its walk more ponderous and wobbly. Thick cracks spread down its body.

It was going to collapse! But it was still moving in the direction of the Cavalier and the Thief.

He watched it happening, knowing full well exactly what was about to go wrong, but he couldn't get over there to help. The statue started to disintegrate, shedding stone as it fell.

'SHEILA!'

Hank saw the Cavalier grab Sheila by the waist and pulled her back, just out of the way of the largest chunk of falling stone. But he pulled too hard and she kept moving, sliding backwards to the crates and the far wall.

Eric turned to follow, but turned too slowly as the other pieces of the statue-woman dropped nearby. One caught a glancing blow on the top of his shoulder, ripping his Shield off his arm. Hank wasn't sure where the next one hit, but the next instant, Eric just dropped limply to the ground, rocks still falling around him.

Someone screamed.

Though terrified for his friend, Hank's only thought was of Sheila. He could no longer see Sheila; she had disappeared through the dust.

The Ratmen were almost through. He had to fire.

_Oh my God, where is she? Sheila!_

'HANK!' cried Diana. 'LOOK OUT!'

He'd forgotten… _There was still one more statue!_

Something slammed into his back and arm, knocking his Bow out of his hand and he pitched forward.

* * *

End of Part I

* * *

Author Notes 

On endings.

This is it until the 1st of November. Sorry for the cliffhanger, but I honestly didn't think this was going to be a double until I'd written Chapter 3. But I'm out of time now. Roll on November!

All other acknowledgements will be at the end of Part II, except -

On Images.

Eric the Acrobat – My friend Tann drew a picture of this ages ago, to do with something totally unrelated to the fic. But it amused me and may in turn amuse you too. It's at the Virtual Realm - my homepage - in the fanart section.


	6. Reprise

Chapter 6

Reprise

_It had all gone wrong. _

_There were too many of them. _

_The Ratmen were about to break through._

_The last statue was just behind him._

_He had known it was dangerous._

_He had been warned._

_Why had he led them to Ur? _

_Why...?_

Though winded, it took Hank a second to realise what had happened, and he only just managed to put his hands out to help break his fall. He hit the ground with a grunt as stinging pain shot up his arms.

An instant later, there was a loud whooshing noise just above his head as the sword of the last statue whistled past, missing his head by mere inches and splintering into the ground in front of him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Acrobat lying on the ground next to him her headband slightly askew.

'Wha…?' he mumbled.

'Head's up, Hank!' hissed Diana. She was already pushing herself off the ground. 'MOVE!'

He managed a fleeting smile at her, as he realised she'd gotten him out of the way just in time, then he rolled to the right, hoping to get closer to his weapon.

The last statue was right beside him, regaining its balance and tugging its sword out of the ruptured ground. And from his low vantage point Hank could see the Ratmen gnawing at the last energy arrow. They were gonna be through any second.

His Bow had skittered across the floor and was a metre or so away, and there was nothing he could do. Diana grabbed his arm, pulling him off the ground. Dust from the stone made him cough, and there was an awful, excited yapping noise from the frenzied Ratmen. There was no doubt, if the statue didn't kill them, those things would. And he still couldn't see the Thief.

Powerful despair and anger flashed through him. _Was this really the end? After all that they'd been through, everything they'd done. Was this all there was?_

The feeling only lasted for a fraction of a second, for all its intensity. He was _not_ going to give up; even if this was The End Of It All. He reached out for the Bow.

Behind him, pressed closed against the far wall, Bobby and Presto were standing together, and the Magician was hurriedly saying something to his Hat. Hank wasn't quite close enough to make out specific words, but as soon as he stopped speaking the Hat started to glow.

The howls of the Ratmen grew louder, as the final arrow snapped under the constant pressure.

There was a sudden shift in the room, as if the air had become denser, and it was much harder to breathe. Hank could feel magic, powerful and unrelenting; the kind of magic he'd rarely felt.

Then, much to everyone's surprise (including the Magician's, it seemed) the rocks and stones that were lying around the room started glowing a faint greenish-blue, and lifted off the ground; all the stones, every single one of them, from the smallest pebbles to the last remaining huge, stone statue. Its sword clattered to the ground just beside him, embedding itself point down in the floor.

Hank flashed a shocked glance at the Magician. Presto was holding his hand out, as if controlling what was going on, but even from a few feet away, Hank could see the other boy shaking. But the expression on his face was not what Hank had expected; it was one of exhilaration, rather than fear.

Slowly at first, the rocks drifted towards the gateway where the Ratmen stood, as if wafted there by a light breeze. But with every second they picked up speed, and soon began jamming themselves together as a wall. Hank saw some of the Ratmen retreat, a few of the braver ones tried to advance but just got stones thrown in their faces for their bravado.

More rocks flew forward. The sound was overwhelming as the pieces of shattered statue as well as stray bits of wall smashed into on another. Hank ducked down to protect himself, hiding his eyes, and didn't look up at what was happening; he could hear perfectly well, and there were still missiles flying overhead.

After only a minute of the steady thudding, crunching and splintering sounds, the noise died down and Hank took a tentative glance at where the gate had been.

Presto's magic had worked. Not only had the magic stopped the Ratmen, but it had stopped the statue as well. The entrance was completely blocked with a bumpy, stone wall with the last statue pinned into it like an ornament, its arm outstretched as if to try and reach out to them. It couldn't move, and there was no way for the Ratmen to get through; but they were safe.

Before relief could really take hold, Hank realised they had to go on now, regardless. He shuddered, and hoped no one had noticed his expression.

_They had to go on. There was no way back._

Beside him, the others started to move, and he saw a flash of lilac from the far side of the room. The Thief was huddled up against the wall, looking shaken but relieved. Not caring what the others thought, he ran over as fast as he could, pulled her up and held her close, shaking with relief. He was almost oblivious to what was going on around him, but Sheila suddenly gave a cry of worry, and Hank turned so see what she was looking at.

The Cavalier was lying on the floor, and a cold feeling of déjà vu filled the Ranger. _Eric…_why was it always him?

Presto and Diana were kneeling on the ground, but he still didn't move. Hank sensed their worry and panic; what if Eric was critically injured this time? What if he couldn't walk? What if he were…

'Is he gonna be ok?' asked the Barbarian, who'd move beside his sister, the unicorn beside him.

'Probably just faking,' replied Diana, but the bright, sarcastic tone didn't carry any conviction.

There was an annoyed grunt from the floor.

'E-Eric?'

'Go away,' he said indistinctly.

'Thank goodness!' said Sheila. 'You're ok!'

From where Hank stood, that seemed the Thief was being overly optimistic, but the Cavalier pushed himself up slightly, and both Diana and Presto helped him to stand. The others stared at the boy and, perhaps in an effort to draw attention away from the fact he'd been injured yet again, Eric looked at the Magician and said:

'Say Presto, do you do Asprin too?'

The Magician frowned slightly, his cheeks still flushed from the use of such powerful magic, but he then said:

'_Abracaday, help Eric feel O-Kay!'_

The weapon glowed once more. After a moments hesitation, Presto reached in to the Hat and pulled out a glass of fizzing water. Eric blinked at it, as if he hadn't expected to get what he asked for, and took it from the Magician. He gave a tentative sniff before gulping it down in one go.

'And I like your wall,' Eric added.

The Magician smiled, a look of confidence and pleasure on his face that Hank had rarely seen. Presto seemed pretty proud of the magic this time.

Hank looked back at it too, then turned to give Presto was warm grin. Without it, they would probably be dead by now. But as useful (maybe even vital) as the magic wall had been, there was no other option now. It didn't matter what the decision before had been, they had to go on.

Everyone was obviously thinking the same, they all had a quiet, sober manner as they stood together. They were waiting for Hank to say something.

'Well, I wouldn't just stand around here. Would you?' said a familiar voice from nearby. The Ranger jerked round to stare at Thom, their erstwhile guide, as he squatted on the ground nearby. The little creature was covered in dust, and busily brushing himself off in a fastidious manner. He looked up at the Ranger with shinning eyes, waiting for an answer.

'Yeah, we should get moving,' Hank said slowly. He could barely remember where they had been heading, the fight (and worrying about the Thief) had taken up all his concentration. Glancing at the others he noticed that, somehow, Diana had managed to keep a hold of the crystal box with the first Key section in it, which was a relief. They had to find the second half of the Key, and get the heck out of there!

He took a look round the room, there was still two exits to choose from; one was to follow the main tunnel upwards, that was the way they had been intending to go when they were attacked. But since the room had been mostly destroyed in the fight, and all the crates were broken, Hank could see another exit that had been hidden before. It was just a small archway, but beyond it seemed to be more stairs.

Finally, he looked at Thom. He was supposed to be their guide! Why didn't he guide them!

'Which is the fastest way forward?' Hank asked the creature. Thom shrugged and pointed to the main exit.

'We'll have to hurry,' Thom said. 'There's a long way to go before you'll find the Key.'

Hank heard a groan from behind, he suspected it was from Eric, but they had no choice now. He was certain that if they could have gone back, they would have, and all of them were the worse for wear after the fight. But that luxury was gone.

'This was a really, really bad idea,' said the Cavalier in a bitter tone. Hank was about to answer back, but Eric just walked off, straight past him.

One by one, the others followed, and Hank watched with resignation, knowing that the Cavalier had a made a very good point.

Ahead there were more quiet, empty tunnels that very gently curved to the left. They were very similar to the ones before, the same height and width, and the kids walked on for a long time. Judging from the distance, it seemed that they should have walked all they way back out of the Palace, but in the dim light, Hank had no real sense of which direction they were going in.

Though they passed a number of doors, but they didn't open them. It wasn't that they didn't try, but the "doors" were actually just alcoves in the tunnel with an image of a door painstakingly painted on, and a stone handle. It looked so real that every one was taken in. But after a while, the amazement wore off, and they didn't bother with them any more.

Thom had overtaken Eric in the lead, and set a fast pace. No one seemed to have much energy for talking, the rest of the kids walked quietly in front of him. Sheila was by his side, and she slipped her hand into his as they walked.

In the dull monotony of yet more tunnels, Hank couldn't help thinking back to all the times they had come so close to a portal, only to have it snatched away. He had grown tired of reliving them, night after night when he was on watch, or when he couldn't sleep. But this time they had to succeed. If they didn't they would be stuck here… they would never get home.

Feeling the warm hand of the Thief in his made him feel better. They had come so far, and overcome so much. It was a far cry from the group of acquaintances that had gone on the ride that fine summers day. All of them had changed. All of them had grown up in ways that they could never have imagined before. And they had grown together as a group, even Eric.

Ahead, the Cavalier seemed to be feeling a lot better, as he was walking briskly behind Thom, looking straight forward with his head held high. It was difficult to believe he'd had yet another close call. The Ranger gave a slight frown. And now he thought about it, Hank was beginning to suspect that whatever the Magician had produced from the Hat, it wasn't Asprin! He took a quick look at Presto, who was walking with the Acrobat just behind Bobby and Uni; but if he was worried about Eric and the sudden change for the better, he didn't show it.

They walked on and on, the tunnels seemed the same as ever; it was almost like they had been going round in circles. But Thom led them forward, without ever pausing, or even breaking step. Hank would have loved to stop for a short rest, even for a few moments, and he knew Sheila wanted to as well, but he didn't say anything; the thought of getting home forced him onwards.

At last, just before they all dropped from over-exertion, the tunnel started to sharply slope downwards. Within a few minutes they had reached another chamber and both Thom and Eric paused at the archway, waiting for the others.

Again, as with all the buildings in Ur, it had a style and beauty that was incomparable to anything else in the Realm. They were in a huge, circular room that was unnaturally tall; the vaulted ceiling seemed to be impossibly high up in the air. The walls were covered in frescos of what seemed to be different scenes from the history of the Realm, all seamlessly blended into one another. The colours had faded, but the power and beauty were not lessened. Also, randomly placed around the walls, were more of those fake doors, except this time each had an ornate surround more suited to the room.

But in direct contrast to the artistry of the décor, the floor was covered in treasure chests and boxes, left strewn everywhere as if the room had been turned over by a burglar. Some boxes were open, but empty, some were partly broken. Further back near the opposite wall, there seemed to be piles and piles of scrolls, or papers of some kind, Hank couldn't see them properly from so far away.

For a few moments, the kids stood quietly in surprise. But the reverential mood didn't last.

'Doesn't look like a Treasury to me!' said Eric flatly.

'Don't tell us,' retorted Diana, 'you've a nicer one back home.'

She was favoured with a scowl.

'You expected _gold_ and _jewels_?' asked Thom, as if tired of having to repeat himself. 'All the precious metal and pretty stones are gone. Most of it left when the city was abandoned. But people have been looting the Palace and its rooms for centuries.'

Hank glanced about.

'I don't see any other exits,' he said. He had expected Thom to reply, but the little creature had bounded off towards the scrolls and if he heard the comment, he ignored it. The Ranger frowned. They seemed to be at another dead end.

This fact was not lost on the others too, as they looked around warily and finally looked back to him.

'Well, at least there're no statues,' said Sheila brightly.

'Doesn't look like there's any Key, either,' put in Eric.

'We'll just have to search,' she replied. 'Remember the Crypt. We found a way out from there.'

The Cavalier gave a grudging nod, and Sheila looked to Hank for approval of her suggestion. Though it was a large room, there would be no harm in letting them all search, and the faster they found the Key, the better, in the present circumstances.

'Well, let's get going,' he said, giving her a special smile. 'The sooner we get the Key, the sooner we can get home.'

For a moment, he was sure that he'd overdone the enthusiasm; after all they all knew they were in highly precarious and very dangerous situation. But they all grinned back at him, even Eric, and moved off to look around.

He watched them for a moment or two, taking special note of which way Sheila was going, then started to look around too.

There was a surprising amount of rubbish left lying around as well as the more obvious chests and boxes; rotting pieces of wood, old, twisted pieces of metal, broken barrels, broken chests with smashed locks. He opened a few of the shut boxes to begin with, but they were all empty, and some disintegrated in his hand. It seemed that Thom had been right, that anything and everything of any value had been removed already.

As Hank stood up from opening another chest, he took a quick look at the others. Bobby and Uni were together, opening boxes on the nearside of the archway. And judging from their expressions, they hadn't found anything either. But they were both still looking around, and hadn't given up yet. Hank was pleased. Of all the kids (bar Eric) Bobby was the one with the shortest attention span.

Diana was closer to Hank than Bobby, also diligently looking around. She didn't have any chests or boxes to open, but she was searching through a pile of brightly painted ornaments, that could have been small statuettes. She seemed to be enjoying herself.

On the other side of the room, Presto was searching through some more boxes, and close by Eric was, predictably enough, opening up some of the more ornate treasure chests. In front of them, Sheila was rummaging around in the boxes too. He moved closer to her, discretely.

Lastly, Thom was still ignoring them all, as he was completely absorbed in reading the scrolls. He seemed to have found a few interesting enough to keep, but most were discarded with a disparaging snort; Hank thought he heard the words "Pah, poetry again", but he couldn't be sure.

After a number of minutes, there didn't seem to be any change, no one had found anything to help them find the Key. Hank made his way over to Sheila. She pushed herself up, turning towards him with a tired smile.

'Still think this was a good idea?' she asked with a sigh. 'Because I think this is hopeless.'

Hank was compelled to smile back at her, even in her despair.

'It's not hopeless. Not yet, anyway.'

They paused, looking at each other. His heart gave a cold lurch when he thought back to their recent fight with the Ratmen and the statues. He'd thought he'd lost her forever. He overcame the urge to hold her again, but only just.

'Hank?' she asked in a low voice. 'What are we gonna do if we can't find the Key? How are we gonna get out?'

Though she needed his reassurance, he found it impossible to say the words. He couldn't lie to her.

'I don't know,' he said, dreading the look of fear and worry that would inevitably cross her face. But instead, she nodded, a look of resolve on her face.

'We're still got our weapons,' she said. 'And Thom has survived ok here. He's been here for years.'

Hank glanced round at the little creature, as he sat surrounded but the scrolls. He didn't notice them watching.

'Do you think he knows what he's doing?' asked Sheila suddenly as they stared. 'He doesn't really seem to be helping us very much.'

Hank frowned. No, Thom hadn't been much help at all. It fact, if anything, they had helped him more than he had helped them. He remembered what the Dungeonmaster had told them; to be careful who they helped. Was this what the old man had meant? But why? And even so, Thom hadn't helped much, but there was still no way they would have found the first section of Key without him!

From behind, Hank became aware of the sound of voices, and it distracted him from his thoughts. That Eric was arguing was not much of a surprise, but the fact that he was arguing with Presto was.

The two boys were standing in the very centre of the room, talking about something, and very intensely as well. They both looked annoyed, a feeling that Hank suddenly shared. Why did Eric always have to do this!

With an irritated sigh, Hank marched over to see what was going on, with Sheila following, ready to give Eric a piece of his mind. But as he approached, Eric looked up, and seemed to be relieved.

'He's here now,' the Cavalier said. 'So say something, Presto!'

The Magician scowled at the other boy, but remained silent.

'Well, if you won't I will!' said Eric. He faced Hank directly. 'Something's wrong.'

'I didn't exactly say that…' started Presto.

Eric scowled at him, planting his hands on his hips.

'What else would you call the opposite of right, then?'

'But…'

'What are you talking about?' demanded Hank.

Presto coloured slightly as the group all stared at him.

'Well, it just seems, kinda, odd and…' muttered the Magician.

'Oh, for goodness sake!' said Eric shortly. 'Just _tell_ them!'

'I think… we've missed something,' said Presto after a long pause. 'Something really obvious. We've done something wrong.'

'You mean we're in the wrong place?' said Sheila, a horrible, worried tone in her voice.

'No,' said Presto hurriedly. 'We're just, not doing… something… right.'

Hank frowned in confusion, wishing that the Magician made more sense. Sheila thought the same. Eric was still scowling at Presto.

'What do you mean?' the Thief asked gently, flicking a cross look at the impatient Cavalier.

Presto's cheeks flushed red, and he looked at the ground.

'I think the answer is right in front of us.'

* * *


	7. Death's Door

Chapter 7

Death's Door

Presto knew the others were looking at him, feeling smaller and less sure of himself than ever before. Strangely, he found it hard to tear himself away from staring at the slab on the floor beneath his feet. There was such an odd feeling inside, and he knew that explaining it, even to someone as understanding as Hank, would be very difficult. He hated these situations. He never knew what to say.

(You've gotta say something.) _I know. I'm just working up to it. _(Work up faster!) _I don't think I can. _(You have to.)

His first glance was to the Cavalier. Now he wished that he'd never mentioned his doubts to Eric, even though the other boy had agreed with him. Though he was annoyed that Eric had dragged Hank into it at that particular point, he knew that the Cavalier had only been trying to help, in his own uniquely abrupt way.

'What I mean,' Presto said slowly as he turned to face Hank, 'is that we shouldn't just be looking around. We've gotta think.'

He didn't need to see the Cavalier to know he had a sarcastic look on his face, and Presto could guess the comment that he was thinking. But fortunately, Eric didn't say anything.

'Where do you suggest we start?' asked Sheila. 'I don't see anything…'

The Magician wasn't sure what to say and as he thought, he noticed Diana, Bobby and Uni coming over to see what was happening. He waited until they were closer before speaking again.

'We need to… um… think…' He petered out, aware of yet more stares from the others. _Why did I start this?_ (Don't back down now). _Why did I even mention it to Eric?_ (But Eric agreed with you!!)_ I should have known this would happen!_

'So we need to think, huh?' said the Cavalier, the slight smirk on his face much less unkind than it could have been. 'Well, it's not like we don't have the time, but now were here in the Treasury, we should…'

It suddenly struck Presto what was wrong; full force. And it was so obvious that it was almost laughable.

'Wait! That's it!' Presto looked around eagerly, looking round the room with a more critical eye. What was it Eric had said before? "_It doesn't look much like a treasury_"… (It's not a Treasury, is it!) _So obvious! _(How could you have missed it!)

'Listen, guys,' he said, 'this place isn't what it's supposed to be. We're looking for the wrong thing! We're not there yet, this isn't the Treasury!'

'What do you mean,' said Hank. 'Thom said…'

'No, he didn't! He never said we were there yet! Did he?'

Hank's brow furrowed as he tried to remember, and he looked round at Thom as he sat searching the scrolls at the further end of the room.

Presto followed his gaze. He wasn't exactly sure _what _it was about Thom that made him feel uncomfortable. So far, the little creature had kept them on the right path. But there was some odd about Thom that made Presto's skin prickle every time he went near.

'Well, no,' the Ranger said slowly. 'I suppose he didn't actually say this was the Treasury. Not in so many words.'

'Remember before,' said Presto, trying had to organise the logjam of thoughts in his head. 'We had to look around, and open door, and solve puzzles.' Hank nodded. 'It's probably the same here. They wouldn't just leave the Key lying around for anyone to pick up! We've gotta do more!'

No one spoke, just waited for him to say something else. He glanced at the attentive faces of his friends, slowly realising they were not waiting there to make fun of him, they actually wanted to know what he was going to say next; even the Cavalier!

The feeling he had was that this was an Illusion, a little like the ones Varla made. What they saw was real, but it wasn't; and he had quickly realised that the difference was _magic_. Varla's name lingered in his mind, the picture of her face, and her smile…

'Presto!' snapped Eric. 'Stop smirking like that!'

'Sorry,' he murmured, trying to get the distracting image of the beautiful Illusionist out of his mind.

To steady his nerves, and actually look like he knew what he was talking about, he looked round the room once more, and was reminded of something he had though when they first entered: that though the room was beautiful, and artistically decorated, there was something unbalanced about it. The people who had lived here in Ur, and built this city had a finely honed sense of the aesthetic. But there was something about this room that was wrong. But if he'd said _that_ to the others, he'd never hear the end of the laughter!

_What am I missing?_ It was starting to get annoying, like a math puzzle he couldn't get. He hated those! He would work all night just to understand. (It's so obvious, I know it is, I know!) _Look more carefully. And think…_

He looked again, and it suddenly hit him.

The doors. Those fake doors! They weren't randomly placed as he'd thought before. It just looked like that because there was one missing.

'C'mon,' he said suddenly. 'One's missing! Over there!'

He walked off towards the space, with the others following.

'What are you talking about,' demanded Eric. 'One what missing!'

'Probably talking about your brain,' snapped Diana. 'Give him a break!'

Presto ignored them, looking at the empty space in the wall. Maybe the Hat could help, and he pulled it off his head, wondering what sort of spell he should try.

'There should be a door there,' he said to the Ranger. 'And that's what's missing.'

Hank raised his eyebrow, doubt written on his face, but Presto was sure. He kept walking, and the others still followed, then stopped a few feet away from the wall. There was definitely _something_ there! The magic was enough to make his hair stand on end.

'Can't you feel it,' he said to the others. 'Magic!'

'Much as I hate to add to Mandrake's ego,' said Eric, when no one else spoke, 'but it does feel kinda odd. I suppose.'

Presto grinned widely at the Cavalier. That was just the sort of reassurance he'd hoped for! He took a step forward.

Looking back, he was very glad he was holding the Hat rather than wearing it at the time as, totally out of the blue, an arc of red fire lanced out of the wall, striking out at him.

The Hat, protective as ever, seemed to act as a kind of lightning rod, swallowing the flames, but it still hurt as the fire struck, and he dropped the weapon with a yelp of pain. The fire was gone as quickly as it had appeared. Sheila was by his side in a second, fussing over his reddened hand. The Hat sat smoking on the floor.

'Well, at least we know there's something there,' said Eric at last. Presto could nearly hear the unspoken coda: "_…and thank goodness it wasn't me again!_"

'Look at the wall!' said Bobby, pointing.

As they all watched, the wall in front of them seemed to dissolve, revealing an alcove. But instead of one door, there were two.

Even though it wasn't quite what he'd expected, Presto grinned anyway and reached down to collect his weapon from the ground. He'd been right! He was on a roll!

The two doors were like mirror images of each other. The hinges, the handles, the cross-spars; and each had a painting on it, again mirror imaged. In the picture, a Knight in shining white armour fighting something _hideous;_ the Knight was down on one knee, his sword raised before his head to protect himself from attack, and the huge, clawed creature was only visible in shadow, much more menacing and unpleasant depicted like that than with all its body seen.

The Magician stared at the pictures. And the more Presto looked, the more detail he could see. Wasn't the Knight crying, two pure white, glinting tears on his cheek? Wasn't the creature winged, with bright glaring eyes full of golden fire? As he looked, it seemed to take on a veneer of reality, almost as if the pictures could move. The Knight seemed to breathe short, staccato gulps of air; the creature dragged it's claws along the floor. He could hear it. He could _smell_ it. He had been wrong, it wasn't the Illusion; it was real, and he was the fake.

The sound of a voice close by brought him out of his stare abruptly.

'Oh, great!' muttered Eric. 'Another choice! You know, one of these days were gonna pick the wrong one and end up… ouch!'

The Cavalier turned to glare at the Acrobat, rubbing his arm.

'What!'

Fortunately for everyone, the brewing argument was cut short.

'So, you've found Death's Door,' said a voice from behind them. Thom was sitting there, his arms bulging with scrolls, watching with great interest. 'And so quickly, too!'

'D-Death's Door?' asked the Magician, a cold feeling of fear suddenly tickling his spine. 'Death?'

'It's juts a name,' Thom replied.

Once again, Presto felt a wave of distrust as he looked at the little creature. What was it about him that was so strange? Why was it that every time the creature came near him, he had the almost overwhelming urge to run away?

'Which door do we go through?' he asked Thom.

'You're the one who found it,' was the reply. 'It's up to you which way you go!'

With a sinking heart, Presto glanced up at Hank, who was standing beside him. The Ranger shrugged and smiled.

'I don't know either. It's your call, Presto.'

The words were like a kick in the stomach. It was his choice. They were going to go with his decision. (What am I gonna do?) _Which one is it? _(Um…?)

In the moments that followed, his admiration for Hank soared. The Ranger had to deal with this every day, his choices were life or death to the group and he had done it every day almost without fail since they had been dropped in this world.

The Magician looked at the two doors. The feeling of illusion came from both equally; in every way they seemed identical. There was nothing, absolutely nothing to choose between them. (I don't know what to do) _I don't know what to do._

He could feel the others watching him, and knew he had to do something, and fast. Dungeonmaster's riddles were of no use so, resisting the urge to close his eyes, he pointed, hoping that their luck would hold out.

'That way.'

It was the one on the left.

'After you, Presto,' said Eric with a tight smile. 'I'd rather not be roast Cavalier. At least, not again.'

It was fair enough. It was his choice, and he had to put his money where his mouth was. (You are sure? Aren't you?) _Yes. I think. _(It's too late to back out now!) _I know!_

As a precaution, he held the Hat out in front of him, but there was no more fire. He gingerly reached out to the handle, but nothing unexpected happened.

Finally, he gave the door a push, and it swung open with a low creak.

Behind the door was a narrow, grey corridor, lit by the same eerie light as everywhere else.

'More tunnels!' said Eric. 'You know how we all love tunnels!'

Presto started forward before the Cavalier could descend into more sarcasm; he couldn't cope with more sarcasm at the moment.

The tunnel was only wide enough for them to go single file, so the Magician lead the way onwards. Unlike the passage before, this one twisted and turned constantly and before very long, Presto had no idea which way he was going.

They walked for a number of minutes. _I'm feeling dizzy! _(Which way are we going?) _I thought you knew! _(I hope we came the right way) _I hope so too…_

Suddenly, he rounded a corner and stopped. In front of him was another pair of doors, again with pictures painted on the front. But instead of mirror images, they had different pictures.

They were pictures of the same man, who Presto now recognised as the King who they'd seen before, once at the library, and once at the Crypt. On the left hand door, he was standing dressed in his full kingly regalia, looking authoritarian and strict, and reading from a very substantial scroll. On the other he was sitting in front of a darkened window, his head bowed as if in prayer.

Presto looked at the doors, carefully examining the pictures for details that would help him choose, but nothing struck him as significant.

'Sorry to bring this up, Presto,' murmured Hank from just behind him. 'But we don't have all night!'

He nodded, wishing he knew for sure which one to choose.

'This one,' he said, again pointing to the one on the left, with the picture of the King in his full robes. 'I think we should go this way.'

Once again, he reached for the handled gingerly, but nothing untoward happened as he pushed open the door.

Behind it was a small room, empty except for a table with some small tiles on it. There was no other exit that he could see.

'Aw, a dead end!' said Bobby, as they all shuffled in.

Thom leap past him and up onto the table, and the Magician only just managed to stop himself recoiling as the creature came near.

'Ah!' said Thom excitedly, pointing at something on the table. 'Here, an inscription "_Knowledge is not wisdom; wisdom is not magic._" Ah! I see! How simple!'

Presto scowled at Thom's back as the creature gave a little chuckle.

'What do you mean, Thom?' asked Hank. 'What do we have to do?'

The creature tutted him loudly, shaking his green head and wagging a finger.

'It never ceases to amaze me that you even managed to _find_ Ur!' he said curtly. 'Let alone get so far!'

'Yes, but what does it mean!' repeat the Ranger, obviously making an effort not to get sucked into an argument.

'You can get past by using your knowledge, or your wisdom, or your magic!' he said. 'And for your sakes, I hope your magic is better than your intelligence, or your not going to get much further!'

At that, everybody looked at Presto, who had the sudden desire to be swallowed whole by the ground. Fighting the urge to hide under the Hat, the Magician looked at the table. On it were nine squares, eight of which had strange symbols on them. The last one, the one in the centre, was blank, and presumably Presto had to find the correct symbol to go there, and complete the puzzle.

His first instinct was to just ask the Hat straight out what the solution was, but he knew his weapon better than that. The Hat would try its best, but he had to have an idea of the answer. The only problem was he didn't have a clue! He tried the simple solutions first, trying to find patterns in the lines and curves, but they just seemed random to him. He asked Thom (obviously a last resort) if they were actually numbers or letters, but Thom said no.

He was about to give up, when he realised something. If what Thom had said earlier was true, this was either a test of knowledge, a test of wisdom, _or_ a test of magic. It wasn't all three! (You sound like you're grasping at straws!) _I am!_

Obviously, he didn't stand a chance of when he knew next to nothing about Ur; but he could use magic, and that was his chance. If he was a good enough magician, he would get the answer, just by asking the Hat: A test of his magic.

All the time, he was aware of the others starting to get nervous; they didn't have a great deal of time to waste thinking the solution through carefully.

He lifted up the Hat, letting his fingers twiddle over the top of it, and he looked at the eight symbols in front of him. (There is a solution.) _I don't know what it is. _(But the Hat can find it.) _Yes, the Hat can find it. _(I hope.)

He focused on the symbols, looking at them one by one, letting their shape and form settle in his mind. All the time his hand moved over the Hat, and it started to glow with a soft, greenish light. Behind him, the talking and noise from the others petered out.

Concentrating on the Hat, and letting the magic take care of itself, he murmured the words of a spell; _Abraca-danser, give me the answer…_

The Hat glowed brighter, and suddenly spat a small tile out into his hand.

He looked down at it; the symbol wasn't like any of the others, or anything he could have come up with on his own. He had no idea if it was even close to being right; he wasn't even sure he was holding it the right way round! But he'd come this far on the luck of the Hat, he might as well continue, for now!

Carefully, he placed the tile in the middle.

For a few seconds, nothing happened. Presto was almost going to feel worried, but he knew that time in the Realm had an odd sense of humour, and things tended to happen when he least expected it to. Sure enough, just when he sensed the others, especially the Cavalier, starting to get anxious, there was the sound of a soft click. Ahead, a door had opened, one that he hadn't seen before. He gave a relieved sigh. (Thank goodness it worked!)

'Al-right!' said Bobby.

'Meeya!' echoed Uni.

'Way to go, Presto!' said Hank, clapping him on the shoulder.

With a definite springing his step, Presto walked over to the door and pulled it open. He had expected more tunnels, but instead what he found behind the door was the Treasury.

There was no mistaking it, even though it still didn't look like the popular conception of a Treasury. The treasure of Ur wasn't gold or jewels, as Thom had said. It was in beauty and art, and knowledge.

It was a wide room with a low ceiling, and many rows of shelves. On some were books, and scrolls, and beautiful sculptures; some even musical instruments and a few weapons. But at the far end, a fair way away, Presto could see the glint of what had to be the other section of Key!

'Look, guys,' he said, pointing. 'The Key! It has to be!'

'Well done, Presto!' said Hank. 'We knew you could do it!'

He saw the wide, proud smile that Hank gave him, even Eric flashed an impish grin in his direction.

They walked on towards the Key, glancing at the objects as they went, but not stopping to get a close look. Presto could sense that Thom was very interested in some of the books, as he lagged behind on occasion, but the others managed to contain their curiosity, as the thought of the Key and the way home drove them on.

It took them just a few minutes to get close enough to see that the bright, shining thing was indeed the other section of Key. The only problem was that it seemed to be protected behind a wall of magical fire, akin to the kind that had leapt out at him before, in the false Treasury. It had only grown up when they approached, and Presto guessed this was another kind of test.

They stopped at a sensible distance, to ponder what the next move should be.

'Maybe I should try magic again,' said Presto, automatically lifting the Hat. But as soon as it glowed, the fire started to burn more fiercely. The heat drove them backwards.

'It reacts to magic too,' said Diana with a frown.

'What are we gonna do?' asked Bobby. 'We need the Key!'

Presto had a sudden thought, and he grinned. There was a way; but not everyone was going to like it! He looked round at the others, his gaze finally resting on one of the others in particular: Eric.

'Well,' he said slowly, 'there is _one_ weapon that can withstand magical fires...'

* * *

The Arch-Mage stayed in the shadows, still waiting, and considered his next move. 

The stone wall had come as a very great surprise; Venger had not thought the Magician was capable! His weapon was one of the most powerful in the whole Realm, but it was notoriously unpredictable. But at the time, Venger had not been appreciably angry; they had only retrieved one part of the Key, and the time was not yet ripe to reveal himself. Yet, he disliked being embarrassed in front of his Ratman entourage! They were primitive animals who feared the powerful more than followed the strong.

But ultimately, it was just a delay. All it had taken was a short detour, and Venger was back on their trail. He had ordered the cowering Ratmen to go to the High Tower, where the Locked Portal was, and await him there.

He could have waited there too, assured that those accursed children would find there way there eventually. But a certain amount of curiosity got the better of him. He wanted to know what they were doing; and how they circumvented the traps laid in protection around the Key.

He was not surprised that the Magician had been the one to notice the missing door. That young boy had a definite aptitude for the magical arts, and his previous experiences with Illusion had prepared him well for Ur's traps.

But as Venger watched the boy fumble around with his Hat, and the illusion fade, he felt the black anger building inside him once again.

The power of illusion was a very strong and very, very useful; loosing control of the Illusionist had been a great blow; and one he was quick to attribute to the Magician. Not having her powers at his disposal was more than an inconvenience!

Not only that, but since then it had become obvious that the Magician had been gaining much more control over the weapon; and his powers were increasing all the time. Worse still, one day, perhaps he would indeed be a fitting replacement for the Old Man. If he remained in the Realm, that is!

Venger scowled deeply.

And he had not forgotten who's magic had immobilised him in the Dragon's Graveyard, either!

The Arch-Mage was tempted to give Fate a slight push in the wrong direction but, as before, he had no desire to awaken the sleeping evil here. Besides, he wanted the Key for himself, and for them to do all the hard work, and take all the risks!

After a discrete time interval, Venger had followed them through the twisting tunnels, but paused as he when he heard that they had stopped. Another puzzle for them; and again, the Magician seemed to succeed. After a few minutes of waiting, during which the children seemed to get worried, the other door opened.

Once they had left, Venger followed, curious to know what the Magician had done. The table with the tiles was just as they had left it; and Venger was most surprised. As a test of knowledge, or intelligence, the children would doubtless have failed. But again, the magic of the Hat had pulled them out of trouble and given the perfect solution!

His lip curled upwards into a sneer. It was good fortune, more than skill. Perhaps it was fortunate for all of them that they did not know what had awaited them if they had failed. It was called Death's Door, after all! But it could not be denied that the Magician had grown in control of that weapon. And that was most perturbing.

He followed them once more, into the Treasury and ignored the books and the miscellany of artistic "treasures". But he was careful not to get too close; the children were oblivious to his presence, but he was not so sure of that strange little creature that travelled with them. It gave no hint that it had noticed anything; not to the children, at least.

The Key was still behind the Flame of Truth, and the children initially seemed perplexed.

But he gave a cruel smile. It was obvious to him what they had to do next. And he would not have missed _that_ for anything!

* * *


	8. The Flames of Truth

Chapter 8

The Flame of Truth

'Well,' said the Magician, only half-managing to hide his smirk, 'there's _one_ weapon that can withstand magical fires!'

Eric glared at his friend. Ok, so it was true, and it wasn't as if he hadn't seen it coming. But did Presto _really_ have to rub it in with such enthusiasm!

The others stared at him too, even Thom. They all had that look. He hated _that _look!

'Ok, Ok! I get the idea!' the Cavalier snapped. 'It's my turn!'

The Key section was on a pedestal in the middle of a ring of fire at the end of the Treasury. Eric wondered at the wisdom of having flames so close to all those nice, inflammable books; but he guessed the people who had set this up were smart enough to have considered that!

It all seemed straightforward enough; use the Shield to get through the fire, get the Key and get back. He was feeling good, even after all that had happened. That asprin had really helped. Well, he was not gonna need a pep talk from Hank this time; or prompting from Diana; or a kind word from Sheila! He could figure out what he needed to do without them this time!

He took a small step forward, and the fires around the Key suddenly flared much higher than before; the heat was incredible. Everyone took a couple of steps back.

'Um… We'll wait for you here,' said Presto, as he backed away.

'Yeah, good luck!' said Sheila.

'I'm sure you'll be fine, in that lovely armour, and with your Shield,' added Diana with a clever smirk.

The Cavalier didn't bother to answer back. He wasn't in the mood to fence words with the Acrobat at the moment. The Shield began to glow, and he took a few tentative steps forwards, as everyone else hurried to the safety of the shelves nearby.

Again, the fire burned up fiercely as he approached. The heat was almost overwhelming, and the Cavalier swayed slightly. This can't be a good idea! If it reacted to magic, shouldn't he leave the Shield behind, like Diana did with her Javelin? _But do I really want to jump through fire without my Shield?_

It was too late anyway. He glanced back, and saw the fires had already crept round behind him. The flames seemed to be making a proper wall, and it was as if he were pushing against a stream of water; thanks to Presto he knew what _that_ was like!

Eric winced, gripping the straps of his Shield as tightly as he could. What had ever possessed him to do this! But instead of panicking, he managed to take another few steps forward through the flames.

_It seemed to be getting easier…_

_It wasn't quite as hot as before…_

Afterwards, he only told his friends the abbreviated version of what happened; it was only much, much later that he told the whole truth, and then to only one person.

Very suddenly, it went ice cold, cold enough to see the breath in front of his face.

Eric almost fell over, as the force he was pushing against unexpectedly disappeared.

'What the…?'

It was white everywhere, and he had to narrow his eyes against the glare, as the room was so bright and pure. The flames had gone, and so had everything else except the Key on the pedestal.

He lowered his Shield cautiously. This was weird. Even for the Realm, this was weird! To his left, a _something_ moved forward, seeming to shift disjointedly in the light. As it came closer, he saw it was a figure wearing armour and a high-plumed helmet. And the figure had a sword. The next thing he knew, the sword swung up, and then down towards the Shield at a great speed. Eric ducked behind his weapon and braced himself.

Nothing happened.

For a few seconds, he stayed still anyway. Just in case. Then he cautiously peeped round the Shield's side. The sword and the armour were gone. Instead, a man clad in simple robes was standing in front of him. Much to Eric's surprise, he recognised him; he was the Knight from the picture, the one Thom had spoken of, the one who'd died splitting the Key in two.

The Cavalier stared, but the man stood, waiting.

For a few long, empty moments, they stayed still, staring at each other.

'Um… Hi?' said Eric at last. 'Um, who are… um… you?'

_Way to go, Cavalier! _he thought bitterly. _Is that really the best you can some up with in the circumstances?_

The figure gave a small bow.

'If you have come this far,' he said, 'then you have defeated all the other tasks that were set by my kinsman before he died. But you have one final trial to withstand.'

Eric gulped, imagining all sorts of different, and extremely unpleasant "trials". He would have backed away, but there seemed to be nowhere to go.

'Tell me, adventurer, why do you desire the Key?' asked the man softly.

'We wanna get home,' replied Eric, looking back at the man. There was something odd about this; and the Knight just seemed to gaze through him.

Suddenly, a pure light rose up all around the Cavalier. It was so pure, and so perfect that it was painful. It grated against him; he wasn't perfect; he was small, and flawed and ugly compared to it. He would have cried out, but that would only have made it worse, so he stood in silent agony until it stopped.

'You speak the truth,' said the Knight, as the light faded. Eric would have answered back, but the echoes of the pure light helped him hold his tongue.

'But that is of no consequence,' continued the man. 'The power of the Locked Portal is too great and coveted by Evil. Do not risk so much, for so little.'

Anger rose inside the Cavalier, overcoming his restraint. Going home was _NOT_ little! Going home was the only important thing they had to do in this crummy place! No one was gonna talk him out of it!

'We've been stuck in this dump for years!' he snapped, pointing a gauntleted finger in the Knight's face. 'We've missed so many portals that I've lost count! We have to get home! We deserve to get home!'

His impassioned speech left the man unmoved, and Eric suddenly realised what was odd. The man wasn't real. He wasn't really there. It was like a memory enshrined in magic. The thought filled the Cavalier with sorrow. This was all that remained of the brave Knight; that and a few pictures. He'd given up his life to protect the portal and defeat the evil creature that had tried to consume it. It wasn't much of an epitaph.

Decisively, Eric stepped forward towards the Key. He wanted to get home!

'Beware, adventurer,' said the man, his voice heavy with sadness and grief. 'For those who would use the portal there is very great danger.'

_Of course there is!_ thought Eric sourly. _Dungeonmaster sent us to find it, didn't he! He doesn't send us any place where everything is easy!_

'Evil is now bound to it, always and forever; the Evil that never sleeps. And if you take the Key its shadow will be upon you. So beware, adventurer. Beware of the truth of the Evil that will haunt you. Beware.'

The Knight stepped back towards the white walls, and seemed to fade. The Cavalier stared after him, confused. For a few moments, Eric struggled to remember the story Thom had told them of the Knight and his fight against Evil. He wasn't certain, but he thought Thom had said it was _imprisoned_. Where? And how? And why?

He would have asked more questions, but the Knight took one more step back, and vanished and Eric was left alone with the piece of Key.

The whole experience was profoundly unsettling. It seemed there was much more to this Portal than they could have thought; no other one they'd been to had such a warning attached.

Just in front of him was the second bit of Key, sitting on the pedestal. But for some inexplicable reason, Eric hesitated.

This was stupid! He had every right to take it! They deserved to go home. But the more he tried to strengthen his resolve, the more it seemed to weaken.

If he told the others he almost didn't take it, they would have gone nuts! It was their way out, their only way out now. If he didn't take it they would be stuck in Ur for years, and they would never get home. But some part of him was deeply affected by the Knight's speech. Maybe whoever made all these traps was counting on that. Maybe all those traps and tests were there for a reason, to deter anyone from taking the Key. Maybe all those tests were there to stop Evil from using the portal.

Minutes passed, and the Cavalier just stared at the Key, his thoughts swirling around, making his indecision even worse.

It was the thought of the others that finally made him move. They did deserve to get home. And thanks to the Ratmen, they had no other choice now, as they couldn't get back in time.

He took a deep breath, and stepped forward to pick it up, half expecting something weird or dangerous to happen. But nothing did.

It was just sitting there, on the pedestal, waiting for him to pick it up and get home. It was simple. _Just pick it up!_ So he did.

As soon as the Key was in his hand, the whiteness changed abruptly, and he was back in the Treasury as if nothing had happened.

'Oh! Eric? What happened?' asked Sheila.

He looked around, surprised at their sudden reappearance.

'You've been ages!' she said anxiously, coming up to him and taking his arm. 'We were really worried!'

He frowned at her. _Ages?_ He'd been a couple of minutes at most!

'Did you get it?' asked Thom from the side.

Eric didn't answer; the Cavalier didn't like Thom. No surprises there, but he got a really uncomfortable feeling whenever the creature even looked at him. Perhaps it was because the creature was so like Dungeonmaster in size and form; perhaps it was because the creature was so like Venger in attitude. Perhaps it was just because he was so creepy!

'Did you get the Key?' asked Presto, and Eric had the sudden urge to tell them to check for themselves. He glanced back, but the pedestal, the flames; everything was gone.

'Weird,' he murmured.

'Eric!' Hank said. The Ranger was holding out his hand.

The strange, awkward feeling was back again, and he almost turned away, denying what had happened. But instead, he held out the section of Key and dropped it into Hank's outstretched hand.

'Way to go, Eric!' cheered Bobby.

'Alright!'

Even Diana gave him a quick hug.

'What happened? Inside the fire?' asked Sheila.

'Yeah we couldn't see,' added Presto.

'I'll, um, tell you later,' said Eric, feeling strangely nervous inside at the prospect. 'Can't a guy have a little rest after walking through flames? It was hard work, you know!'

The quip had the desired effect and the others seemed to loose interest in him and his experiences. They were looking at the bit of Key in Hank's hand.

'Well, Hank, what about this one?' said Diana, holding up the box and giving it a little shake. The other Key section was still inside. Eric rolled his eyes, he wasn't gonna bother repeating himself, and Hank took the hint.

'Let's break it,' the Ranger said.

Diana shrugged, and dropped it on the ground, letting the crystal box around the first Key section shatter into hundreds of sparkling shards of light. Hank stooped down and picked it up, holding one piece in each hand.

As they stood looking at the two pieces, a glow of light came from them, like a halo, and it pushed out to surround them. For a moment, it hovered there pulsing, then it was gone.

Eric rubbed his eyes, feeling slightly dizzy; he could have sworn the two bits of Key were a little _shinier_ than before. Hank fiddled around with the sections for a moment, then seemed to give up.

'We've got the Keys,' he said, his eyes gleaming with hopefulness. 'We can fit them together on the way. Now all we've gotta do is find the Locked Portal! And then we go home!'

'We don't have much time left,' muttered Presto, giving Eric a dark look. He scowled back. He had no idea what they were talking about! What had he done wrong _this_ time?

Hank turned to Thom, barely able to contain his hopefulness. The little creature smiled; Eric liked him even less when he smiled.

'The Locked Portal is close by. It's here, in the Palace.'

'Thank goodness,' Sheila muttered.

'But we will have to walk quickly,' Thom added. 'We don't want to be late.'

Without waiting to hear what the kids had to say, Thom moved forward, walking past where the pedestal had been and through the rest of the Treasury. He led them straight through, ignoring everything to the left or right until they reached the far wall, and another door.

This time, it opened out to somewhere they recognise; they were back in the tunnels very near where they'd fought the Ratmen and the statues.

Eric scowled as they walked past the debris of the fight.

'Hey!' he called to Thom. 'Why couldn't we have taken the short way the first time?'

Thom turned, glaring at him.

'The doors only open outwards,' he replied, in a tone that Eric took to imply that he was stupid just for asking the question! The Cavalier scowled at Thom's back.

'Don't worry,' said Presto from beside him. 'I was just gonna ask the same thing.'

The Magician's comment made Eric smile.

They crossed the hallway to the wide, spiral stairs at the far side, and started to climb them. Presto and Eric were at the back, and they climbed the stairs together, not talking as they both grew out of breath very quickly. Thom almost ran up the stairs, never pausing. Diana was the only one with any chance of keeping up, but he eventually outpaced her.

She tried to call out, but the little creature didn't slow down.

'What are we going to do, Hank?' Eric heard her ask.

'Keep following!'

'Looks like we're going to have to speed up,' Presto said, not looking pleased at the prospect. 'Let's run for a while.'

'A _short_ while!' Eric said.

They started to run up the stairs, trying to gain some ground on the others. Fortunately, the others had paused.

'Where's… Thom?' gasped Eric.

'He's ahead,' said Sheila. 'He won't slow down!'

'You sure we're going the right way?' asked Bobby. Beside him, Uni looked tired, and was nuzzling into the Barbarian, probably hoping to be carried.

'There've been no doors,' said Hank. 'I guess we just keep on going up!'

'Great,' murmured Eric, as loudly as he dared.

The group kept on going, winding upwards all the time. Eric was exhausted and feeling more despondent every minute. No amount of asprin was gonna help when you were climbing endless stairs with plate armour on! But more than that, there seemed to be a dark shadow looming behind him; maybe it was because he was tired or maybe it was because of the fires, and the Knight's puzzling warning.

Keeping his eyes on the steps in from of him, he kept on plodding upward. He couldn't even talk anymore. It was embarrassing, even after so long in this stupid place, he still lagged behind the others! Even Prsto had outpaced him this time!

Diana and Hank were in the lead, and at last, after what seemed like hour and hours of climbing-torture, there was an excited shout and Eric realised they must have reached the top.

Closing his eyes momentarily, he forced himself to go faster, the thought of home helping to keep him going. It was further than he'd anticipated; he must have fallen further behind than he'd thought.

At the very top of the stairs was an open door; the others had already gone through by the time he'd reached it. He looked into the room beyond while leaning on the doorframe, trying to catch his breath.

It was unusual by its emptiness; there were no murals or paintings, only a few faded tapestries on the far wall. The floor was made of stone, as were the walls. There were no window and no other doors that he could see. It was dark, and cool and peacful.

The object that caught his attention immediately was behind a huge set of glowing silver gates: the portal. It was unmistakable, the swirling mass of colour, and the unmistakable feeling of magic. It should have taken his breath away; it would have done if he'd not been so out of breath anyway.

No far away, his friends were standing together.

'Nice of you to join us, Cavalier!' said Diana. She grinned at him so happily and infectiously that he had to grin back. They had done it: they had made it all the way through Ur to find the Key and find the portal. They were gonna get home! He could almost smell the hotdogs and pizza already!

The others were looking at something in Hank's hand, and Eric realised that it was the sections of Key. Hank still hadn't managed to fit them together.

The Ranger fumbled with them for almost a minute before looking at his friends.

'Um, anyone else want a go?'

Eric watched with growing impatience as Sheila, then Presto, then Diana all tried to fit the two Key sections together with no success.

He could see very clearly what they had to do; there were two little rainbow-like stripes that twinkled with a soft light, one on each section of the Key. It was obvious that they had to lock together with the stripes in line!

It was odd, now he thought about it. At first, in the Treasury, he hadn't noticed them, but now they were beside the Locked Portal itself, the glow was now very distracting and he couldn't look at the pieces without seeing it. He couldn't understand what was wrong with the others. Why didn't they just fit them together? It was simple!

'Oh, please!' he said at last. 'Are you all blind and well as clumsy!'

'Well, if you're so clever, Er-ic, why don't _you_ try it then!' Diana snapped back at him, and held the sections out.

'Finally! A good idea!' He had enough self-control to stop himself snatching the pieces out of her hand.

Eric looked at the two sections, one in each hand, held between a finger and thumb, and hesitated. It had looked very simple before, and he could still see the twinkly lines of colour, but he had a really funny feeling inside.

He'd done some pretty stupid things in his time in the Realm, and that wasn't even counting the great, overwhelming and total _mess_ he'd made of that business with the Box of Balefire. But the important thing was that he had learned. He'd started to pay attention to the signs and the situations, and he knew when he was about to do something really dumb. Ok, so it didn't _always_ stop him from doing it, but the point was that he recognised those moments now, rather than blundering around at the mercy of his ego.

And, most importantly, now was definately one of those times; notwithstanding the fact that this Key was the only way out of Ur they had left, and that if they didn't get out, they would be trapped inside the city.

He didn't know how he knew, but he did: It was a really _bad _idea! The Knight was right.

The Cavalier hesitated for another few moments, about to mention his fear and doubts to the others. But in the end, they needed the Key to get them home; he had to fit it together, in spite of his reservations. they had to get home.

'It's ok, guys,' he muttered, 'I think I've…' For the first time in a few moments he looked up, expecting his friends to still be watching him. The rest of the sentence stalled, and the words stuck in his mouth.

It wasn't the hundreds of Ratmen that caught his attention, or their glinting swords, or their dull yellow fangs.

It was the figure standing in front of them.

It was Venger.

_Of course…_

They hadn't seen Venger for months; it would have been nice to think that they had forgotten about him, but they hadn't. Above the icy fear that took his breath away, he was suddenly very angry.

_Of course…_

This whole set up had smelt of Venger! Eric had _known_ something was odd about this place, he'd felt it the moment they'd stepped inside. The feeling they were being followed, or watched, the odd feeling of magic around everything. It was the same feeling as when he'd been Dungeonmaster, and it had been Venger following them then too!

_Of course…_

He should have said something sooner, he should have mentioned his fears to Hank, and made him listen! He should have known; he recognised that feeling now. Damn it, he DID know, he just didn't THINK!

_Of course!_

And now they were trapped!

Venger smiled at them all, his mocking gaze lingering for a moment on the Cavalier. Eric clutched the Key sections tightly and tried to think up a way of hiding them, or at least getting rid of them for long enough to fight the Arch-Mage.

Just in front of him, Hank lifted the Bow, and pulled an arrow. Eric had to admire the way Hank tried to stay in control of the situation, even if it was hopeless.

'Stay back, Venger!' said the Ranger, his voice surprisingly calm.

'Or what, Ranger?' replied the Arch-Mage. 'You will fire?'

Hank gulped, but didn't lower the arrow.

'I don't think you'll be able to stop them all, Ranger,' continued Venger. 'Do you?'

'I'm happy to try!' Hank said defiantly.

'Very well!'

There was a blinding flash from Venger's hand, aimed directly at Eric. Fortunately, the Shield caught the main force of the magical blast, but the Cavalier was unprepared for it and, unbalanced, he was knocked backwards.

He must have lost consciousness for a few moments.

The first thing he realised was that he was on the ground, had a thumping headache again, and now his chest hurt like he'd been hit by a Golden Dragon.

There were noises of a fight going on around him, but his mind was too foggy to really understand what was happening. Yet again, he was lying sprawled on the floor when he should have been standing, helping the others. His eyes were closed and it seemed almost impossible to open them. He wasn't sure he could move at all, but from very close by he could hear the screech of Ratmen and the clash of metal. The others were all shouting, and that didn't help the headache at all. Then he felt the rumble of the Club striking the floor.

'_Get away from her!'_

'_Hank, stop them!'_

'_Look out!'_

'_Scatter!'_

'_Somebody get across there!'_

'_Look OUT!'_

Sheila screamed those last words so loudly that Eric forced his eyes open and looked round. The room slid into view.

Of the others, only Bobby was free. Ratmen had taken hold of all of the others. But the Barbarian was surrounded. As Eric watched, Bobby was grabbed from behind, and the Club viciously pulled out of his hand. He was pulled over to where the others were being held. Sheila hugged the young boy tightly. They all looked as terrified as Bobby, even Hank. Around them the Ratmen snarled and snapped, licking their lips.

Eric glanced up at Venger, now stood very close by and towered over the fallen Cavalier. On his face was a terribly smug and cruel smirk.

'So, Cavalier,' said Venger. He waited, but Eric made no reply. Even if he could have thought of something clever to say, the blast had knocked the breath out of him, and he struggled to take in air, let alone actually talk!

'So, Cavalier,' repeated the Arch-Mage, with a hint more malice in his voice, 'I cannot believe that you, of all people, have nothing to say.'

Slowly, Eric pushed himself up to as sitting position, never taking his eyes off Venger. Why hadn't the Arch Mage just destroyed him while he had the chance? That Venger was playing some malevolent game was obvious enough, but if he wanted the bits of Key, why didn't he just take them?

One of the Ratmen scampered forward, holding the other five weapons, and he laid them in Venger's arms.

The Arch-Mage looked at the Cavalier, still waiting for a response.

Eric did manage to reply that time; with two words he wouldn't normally have used in front of Bobby or Sheila. But if he was _ever_ going to be justified in using them, now was the time!

But Venger laughed at his bravado.

'How amusing that you, of all people, should be the only one who can fit the Key together!' he said. 'How _very_ amusing!'

The Cavalier scowled at him, deeply insulted at the tone of Venger's voice.

'You will join the two sections together, Cavalier, or your friends,' Venger gave this word a special emphasis, 'will suffer the consequences.'

A wave of sickness washed through him, and he felt cold, and alone, and very, very scared. It was an impossible choice. If he didn't, well… he didn't want to think about it… but Venger would, no doubt think up something really horrible!

'Eric! No!' called out Hank. 'Don't do it!'

The Cavalier looked up at Venger and saw the cold, calculating look in his eye. _Venger couldn't be trusted… remember Kelek…_

He had a sudden, insane thought; so insane that he almost laughed out loud.

He moved slightly, looking down at the sections of Key that were sitting on the ground beside him. He was insane to try it. There was no way Venger was going to fall for a bluff, not at this stage! _But what do I have to loose?_

Slowly, he lifted the Shield above the Key, its pointed tip right above the larger section.

'Set them free,' he said, wishing his voice wasn't so wobbly. 'Set them free, or I'll destroy it.'

Venger looked amused.

'You try to bargain your way out now, Cavalier?'

'Set them free!'

'I do not believe you,' purred Venger in a soft voice, gently mocking him. 'I do not believe you could destroy it; their only way out.'

His hand was shaking so much that it must have been obvious to everyone that he was terrified. What was he doing! There wasn't even any guarantee that the Shield would do anything except bounce off!

The others were watching him, all with the same horrified expression. _Geez, what am I DOING?_

'I-I'll do it, I-I swear,' he said. 'I'll destroy the Key if you don't let them go!'

Venger was looking at him; actually, Venger was smirking at him. He hated that look. It was the same as when they'd faced off at Darkhaven. What in God's name was he doing?

'You are willing to choose death, Cavalier? And imprisonment in Ur for your friends?'

Eric stared at Venger, confused, but only for a moment. Then he remembered what Thom had said about the Key, and the last person who had tried to destroy it. _He'd died. The Knight he'd seen in the flames… he'd died._

The Shield wobbled but somehow Eric kept his nerve.

'I see you are,' continued the Arch-Mage. 'How amusing!'

What if Venger called his bluff? What if he really had to do it? It was impossible to describe the feeling: It wasn't despair (he was familiar with _THAT_ feeling by now!); it wasn't even fear. It was something else. Something greater. And something better. For a second, it felt like his heart stopped, and his blood ran from warm to cold and his hand tightened on the side of the Shield.

Venger wasn't gonna play.

His bluff was called.

He only had one option left.

He had to destroy the Key!

And what surprised him the most was that he knew he would.

* * *

_Curse that Cavalier!_ He hated him, almost as much as he hated the Ranger! 

Venger was beyond furious. How dare a whelp such as _that_ dictate his actions! They stared at each other, and Venger was sorely tempted to strike out and kill him with a single flick of his hand. How ironic that the Key should have chosen him to be its keeper, to be the only one who could fit the two pieces together! This pitiful, weak, cowardly child, with no more idea of his place in the Realm than a leaf; or a mote of dust! It was contemptible! It was obscene!

And it was _typical_!

Since those children had set foot in the Realm, nothing went as he had planned. How many time had he tried, and failed, to be rid of them? It was a pity the Flames hadn't killed him. It was a pity he couldn't set the Ratmen on him. How often must he, Venger the Dark Ruler of the Realm be defeated to by a child!

He remembered Darkhaven; it haunted his waking dreams. True, there had been other times when the Cavalier had personally thwarted his plans, but Darkhaven was the worst. To be defeated in such an ignominious manner, by this cowardly, weak child was beyond an insult. As Dungeonmaster, the boy's powers had been erratic at best, but he had still managed to banish him _and_ destroy the Grimoire before he could use it!

Venger looked down at the Cavalier, seeing the boy's hands shake.

But there was something that he'd missed before. Yes, the boy was terrified beyond reason. And yet, that was not going to stop him. Not even the death was going to stop him. He was at the very brink of destroying the Key, regardless of the personal consequences.

And Venger knew for certain that was exactly what he would do would, if trapped. The realisation came as a great surprise: Somehow, the young man had grown up.

Very slowly, always watching the Cavalier and his reactions, the Arch-Mage lowered his hand, forcing the anger as far inside him as he could.

'Very well, Cavalier,' he said. 'What do you suggest?'

The young man almost couldn't believe what he was seeing; that was obvious. And would give Venger the advantage. Inside he smiled. This was going to be easy!

'Release us, and leave!'

Venger laughed. The Cavalier might have won on bravado, but he would fail with bargaining.

'I cannot do that, Cavalier. And you know it.'

He stated it as fact, and saw the young man glance to he friends, possibly for help or inspiration.

'Let us go, and I'll give you the Key,' he said.

'But I will keep you weapons! All of them!'

'No!'

'Yes, Cavalier! I will have the Key and the weapons, or I will ensure your friends are ripped to shreds before your eyes. I will give you your life, and that of your friends, in return for the Key. And your Shield.'

The boy looked like he was going to argue, but Venger cut in.

'You cannot win, Cavalier,' he said. 'If you try to fight, you will all be destroyed. It you destroy the Key, your friends will die as well.'

The Cavalier seemed cowed by this. He kept glancing to the other for help. Deliberately, Venger moved to stand between them, looking down at the young man in as calm and majestic a manner as he could.

There was silence for a few seconds.

'I… I don't think I trust you,' the Cavalier stammered.

Venger fought off the urge to laugh. This one had indeed grown up a great deal since he'd first come to the Realm. No one else would dare say that to his face!

Venger paused, then gave a small bow with a flourish.

'Then I give you my _Word_! And so the choice, Cavalier, is yours!'

* * *

(Screen-cap style illustration at www dot thevirtualrealm dot co dot uk slash s4pnrfanart) 


	9. At the End of All Things

Chapter 9

At the End of All Things

For a few moments, Hank could hardly breathe.

The Arch Mage stood towering over Eric as the Cavalier just sat on the ground, shaking. Hank couldn't see Eric's face, and he was almost glad he couldn't. It was an impossible choice, and Venger knew it! But that was the point, wasn't it; put them in the position they couldn't get out of, get the weapons, get the Key.

_Then he would destroy them._

It was the helplessness of their situation that Hank found unbearable. He was their leader, and he was powerless to help. Worse, he could do nothing but watch as the Cavalier was manipulated into giving in to Venger's demands!

A bitter, deep anger burned inside the Ranger. A small part of it was directed at Eric, even though he understood that the Cavalier was as trapped as the rest of them. Some of it was directed against Venger; the one who always seemed to be there, just at the right time to thwart their plans to get home.

But most of it was directed against himself. Dungeonmaster had warned them of the terrible risks involved in travelling through Ur but, full of confidence and flush with success, Hank had decided to come anyway. It had been his decision. _It was all his fault._

He had taken the chance; but he hadn't thought it through properly. The Locked Portal was their only way out, since the passage was blocked. They had to use the Key and get home, or they were stuck here. But now they had neither Key nor weapons, and Venger would surely never let them go.

Time seemed to crawl past. The guilt and anger were suffocating, not even the gentle pressure on his arm from Sheila's hand could help him feel any better, or any less alone. He could only watch, and wait as their fate was decided.

He couldn't see clearly what was going on, Venger had positioned himself between the Cavalier and the others, but Hank heard Eric murmur something, though he wasn't close enough to make out what was said. Sheila had noticed it too and her grip on his arm grew tighter.

There was a slight movement as Venger stepped back. Eric was still on the ground, hanging his head and unable to look up at his friends. The Arch-Mage turned to look at them, and at Hank in particular, his expression one of unbearable glee.

'Release them,' Venger growled at the Ratmen, his eyes gleaming with a dull, red light. 'You will release them. And leave!'

Surprised, Hank's breath caught in the back of his throat. And he was not the only one. There was a brief pause as the Ratmen looked at each other, they gave an angry chittering noise; it seemed that the creatures had expected to dine well that evening. But the Ratmen were more afraid of Venger's power than anything else.

But, slowly, the Ratmen moved back from the children. There was more of the loud, angry chittering, but at last the creatures faded away into the background. Within a minute there was no sign of them, and the room was silent.

Venger stood still, watching him.

Struggling to keep control of his shaking legs, Hank forced himself upright, aware that the others followed his lead. He glanced at the Cavalier and the Arch-Mage. Eric looked like he was about to be sick.

_Don't give it to him, Eric! Don't trust him! Don't do it… _He could still use the Shield, he could protect himself while he connected the Key together. He could open the Portal and they could run. They might still be able to get home… _It might still be ok._

But Hank knew what the Cavalier was going to do. He would have done the exactly the same in his position: Venger had kept his part of the bargain: Eric would too.

Slowly the Cavalier pushed himself to his feet. He didn't seem to be able to look the others in the eye, he had turned slightly away from them and he kept staring at the ground.

'Give me your Shield, Cavalier,' said the Arch-Mage loudly, his voice echoing round the hall.

The helpless feeling, along with a terrible anger flared again; Venger was just being vindictive now; he was going to make the very most of this moment. He had total power over them, and was not about to let them off lightly! Hank saw Eric shudder, but lift up his weapon and offer it to the Arch-Mage.

_That smile_. Hank would never forget that smile slashed across Venger's face at that moment. It was victory. It was triumph. It was sickening.

'And the Key.'

For a few seconds, the Cavalier didn't move and it looked like he might faint. He'd never seemed so white before.

'The _whole_ Key,' prompted Venger gently.

Hank saw Eric take a deep breath, click the Key together and drop it into Venger's hand.

What happened next was confusing, and it was only afterwards that Hank could make some sort of order out of his muddled memories.

Venger definitely held up the completed Key, and beside him the portal began to glow as it was brought to life. Also Hank was sure that Venger laughed at them, and specifically at _him,_ and held the weapons up on high for them all to see.

But there was also a horrible crackling, sucking noise from somewhere close by. The Arch-Mage didn't pay any attention to it, but both Sheila and Presto did.

'What's that?' the Thief asked.

'It sounds _horrible_,' added Presto.

Hank shrugged, and looked around. The sound seemed to have come from near the portal itself.

Suddenly, a bright bolt of light sprang out from the centre of the lock, smacking into Venger. The Arch-Mage only reeled slightly; but the Cavalier, who was still in front, was knocked sideways by the force.

Then, before anyone could move, there was a long, loud, penetrating roar. Hank crouched down on the ground, covering his ears, and tried to protect Sheila at the same time. The roar grew, and even Venger started to recoil as the room began to shake. Though he felt the loss of his Bow acutely, Hank still tried to protect the others. The room was better constructed than the Treasury entrance; the walls and floor shook but not even a tiny trickle of dust fell to the floor.

Abruptly, the noise stopped and echoed away. Hank looked up.

The Locked Portal was alive with a slew of blurred images and shone with a powerful, bright light. The gates were now open; in fact they were lying, mangled on the ground looking as if something had torn them from their hinges and tried to eat them.

Hank froze, his blood running cold. He'd been afraid before; only the very stupid were not afraid when facing down Venger. But this was a different kind of fear, as if he had suddenly found himself in the middle of something much bigger, and something he didn't understand.

He stayed still for a moment, watching the torrent of images, and Hank felt the familiar painful sinking feeling; the one he got every time they failed to get home, the one he got every time the portal closed without them.

But this time, the price of failure was much, much higher. If they didn't get back they would be stuck here.

He looked towards Venger once again, anger overcoming his fear. But the Arch-Mage looked anything but triumphant. The sneering attitude that had been so apparent before was gone. Venger was frowning at the portal. He almost looked worried.

Out of the corner of his eye, Hank noticed Eric was near the far wall, and pushing himself upright. The Cavalier moved slowly and there seemed to be what were best described as scorch-marks on his armour. But at least he was still alive.

For a moment, everyone looked around the room in surprise, as if waiting for something to jump out of the shadows and attack. But nothing moved, and nothing happened. And to add to Hank's confusion, the Arch-Mage started to laugh.

'I know you are here!' he called out. 'The time for games is _over_! Show yourself!'

As the words died away, there was silence for a few moments.

It gave them no warning, one moment they were alone and the next, "_it"_ was there, taking everyone, even the Arch-Mage, by surprise.

In front of the Portal was a huge and terrible demon-_thing_ the like of which Hank had never seen before. It was clawed, and grotesque and filled with an evil he could sense even from many feet away. Though the Ranger had never seen the face of the ultimate, No-Named Evil, he couldn't imagine it being any more horrible that what he saw. It was undoubtedly a Demon, but he had no idea of which type.

It was half in shadow, but Hank could clearly see strips of flesh and bone covering its body. It had bright, yellow eyes that glowed in the gloom of the hall. There were two great curled horns on its head, and long snout with sickle-like incisors. The shell of the body was also covered in shadows, but there was the glint like polished metal that gave the impression of spiked armour. It was difficult to tell how large it was, but it was certainly a lot bigger than the Arch-Mage.

Everyone, Venger included, took a step back.

The Demon looked round, and caught sight of the group of children. With a careless, instinctive flick of its hand, it sent a mass of red magic hurtling towards them.

They only had an instant.

This is it! 

They had no weapons.

There was no chance to run.

There was nothing they could do.

There was nothing he could do.

Nothing.

_Nothing…_

Pulling Sheila into a tight embrace, Hank braced himself for the end. They all did.

_This was it, the end…_

But the magic dispersed around them.

Hank gasped.

The Demon was obviously surprised, though not as surprised as the kids were. Then it looked at Venger. The Arch-Mage stared back at it, his head held high, magic flaring in his hands.

'_You_ will not destroy them! That is my prerogative!'

The Demon laughed, and the kids all covered their ears at the harsh sound.

'So, Venger. You have pets!' Contempt saturated the words the Demon spoke, and it leaned forward to leer at him. 'How _amusing_!'

The Arch-Mage lifted the hand he held the weapons in, and they started to glow with a red light.

'Bow before me, Demon!' he called.

But it laughed again.

'I am the one with the Key,' Venger said. 'I am the more powerful! Bow down before your Master!'

The hiss the Demon gave was so filled with malevolence that Venger staggered slightly.

'You think I would make the same _mistake_ twice!' it snarled. 'That foolish Knight thought he destroyed me when he destroyed the Key, but my dependence on objects is now GONE! I have a new source of _power_! And I have waited a _very_ long time to use it!'

It stretched out its head, stretching his neck to its full length, and belched crackling, green magic flame at Venger. The Arch-Mage cast it aside, but it wasn't easy, and seemed to take a great deal of effort.

The sight of Venger struggling didn't fill Hank with any pleasure. Surely he should have known about this creature? It wasn't like him to come unprepared, especially since this was supposed to be his moment of triumph! Something wasn't right. The Ranger knew perfectly well that when Venger had the weapons he could defeat Tiamat and rule the Realm. Why should this creature pose him any threat? Why had Venger miscalculated so badly? Surely, if he'd known it was here, he would never have opened the Portal…

_He didn't know! That's the only explanation!_

'Insignificant creature from the Depths of Time!' bellowed Venger as the flame dies away. 'You know nothing about power!'

He lifted up the weapons, and they glowed more brightly. Then Venger cast, sending all the magic he could at the creature.

The Demon reared up against the torrent, but as the stream of magic petered out, it laughed yet again.

'Is that the best you can do, Venger!' he hissed. 'One thousand years of preparation and that is _the best you can do_?'

Incredibly, Venger seemed to blanch at the venom in the words. Hank's cold fear grew suddenly more acute. The expression on the Arch-Mage's face was not something he'd seen very often before; in fact he'd only seen it once, at the Dragon's Graveyard.

Venger was scared.

Beside him, someone vocalised his exact thoughts.

'Oh, shit!'

Everything else was cut short as the magic fire exploded out of the Demon again, enveloping Venger completely. Hank had to hide his eyes from the intense light, and he thought he heard the Arch-Mage cry out in pain.

As Hank stepped back, the hopelessness of the situation hit him again. He was the leader. He shouldn't just be standing around. He had to _do something!!_

He just didn't know what…

The crackling noise died away, and Hank looked up. As he did so, a tiny movement at the back of the hall suddenly caught his attention. Something was hiding in the shadows. Hank couldn't think what it was, and thought it was his imagination until the caught the glint of yellow eyes in the gloom. The eyes; that clever, knowing look he'd seen a number of times before. It was Thom! The little creature had curled up into an alcove in the wall, and was avidly watching what was happening below it from relative safety.

But instead of feeling pleased that the creature was safe, it just made Hank even more afraid. Dungeonmaster's words echoed round his head: _Be careful who you help. There are those who are lost, those who are found, and those who are neither!_

How much did they know about the little creature anyway? Thom hadn't helped them out of compassion; that was now obvious. Perhaps he had wanted this to happen and the Demon to be released...

His attention was abruptly dragged away from Thom by a cry of surprise from Venger.

The Demon had taken a step forward, away from the Locked Portal. Hank could see the lines of green magic being drawn out from the gateway and coiling around the Demon like smoke.

'What have you done?' hissed Venger in shock. 'N-none may use the power of the Void!'

The Demon ignored the question. It was staring at the Arch-Mage as if he was the only thing in existence. Slowly, it and drew itself up to it full height, so it towered three times in height over him. Then it sent out a huge, green ball of magic directly at it enemy. Venger, though prepared, was unable to withstand the blast. He fell to his knees, as if his magic and his strength was being sucked out of him.

But Hank wasn't sure what happened to Venger next, as he wasn't watching the Arch-Mage. Through the brilliant green fire, all Hank saw was the glowing, red-wrapped pile of weapons that fell from Venger's hand. The bundle bounced once on the floor, rolled forward for a short way then split apart, scattering the weapons on the ground close by him.

He stared at them, eyes wide for the tiniest of moments.

_It was their only chance._

Within a second of the weapons hitting the ground, Hank was running forward towards them. The Demon was too concerned with Venger at that moment to bother about the children.

It seemed that all of his friends had the same idea, even Eric, and they converged where the weapons lay. Each one of his friends grabbed their weapon and backed away, as quickly as they could. Much to the Ranger's relief, his Bow hadn't been drained of its power by Venger. As his hand closed round its familiar handle, Hank felt better. At least now they could defend themselves!

Or at least try to! 

Beside them, the green fire died away, leaving the Arch-Mage lying on the ground, his powers now exhausted. But something else had fallen as he'd had been overcome: The Key. It lay glinting on the ground. Hank saw Venger glance down at it, and he was sure Venger shuddered.

The Demon strode forward, sending a waft of putrid air towards them. It reached down to the fallen Key and delicately picked it up between two of its claws. It placed the Key into the palm of its other hand, and crushed it. The small shards of metal tinkled to the ground.

Hank's heart went colder than ice, and he heard Sheila choke back a cry. After all the trouble they had gone to, and all the dangers they had faced, to get the Key and get home. It was gone in less than a second.

'My dependence on material objects is _broken_!' the Demon said, crowing at Venger. 'The gates of the Portal are destroyed, and power flows freely out of the Void! You can not stop me!'

Beside him, someone touched his arm, and gripped it tightly. He knew it was Sheila before he turned to look at her.

'H-Hank? W-what we gonna do?' she said.

She had never looked so vulnerable before, or so pale, or so frightened. He desperately wanted to hold her, and tell her everything would be ok. But he couldn't get the words out.

They looked at each other, and for a few moments nothing else in the whole world mattered. It was his decision to bring the others here. They still had to keep alive, even if they couldn't use the portal!

_The Portal…_

He looked at it, with the blurring, fast images, the blinding glow around it and the tendrils of magic that crept out of it. As he stood, his thoughts blurred like the images did. It was a huge portal, bigger than any other he had seen. Not only that, he could make out images of different places, and what seemed like different times. After all, this portal could take them anywhere. This was the same creature that had attacked the city before, Hank was certain, the one "imprisoned" by the Knight. Could it have been imprisoned within the portal itself, as the ultimate deterrent against its use?

That didn't matter! Now the Key was gone, and the portal was jammed open. The Demon could come and go as it pleased, it had no restrictions. What was it that the creature had said? "My power flows freely out of the Void"?

Inspiration hit him full force: Maybe that was its weak point.

Perhaps… 

Suddenly, the creature whipped round to glare at the Ranger, the venomous glare that it had used on Venger hit him, full force. Hank wobbled; it felt as it his will to live and breath had suddenly gone.

'Hank?!' said the Thief.

_He knew that voice. It was Sheila. It was Sheila._

But the Demon seemed to know what he had been thinking. He looked at it, and he knew it knew what he had been thinking. And it was suddenly furious!

A ball of green light formed in its right-hand claw.

He had nowhere to run, and there was nothing left to do, so he lifted the Bow and fired as many times as he could, not at the Demon, but at the Portal beside it.

Someone screamed as green light filled his vision.

One moment he was standing, and the next…

* * *

If he had been better prepared, this _fiasco_ would never have happened! If he had watched the signs more closely! If he had just been more careful…

The look on the Ranger's face had been too distracting. The crushed, furious and helpless look on the face of the young man was the most beautiful sight Venger had seen in a very long time! That was all it took.

From the moment he had set foot in Ur, he had ensured he had not attracted the attention of the sleeping Demon, and now, just at the very end, just at the last moment and on the cusp of victory, he let his concentration slip!

But the fury did not last. Even as he faced the Demon, he knew he could never win.

Then came the fear. Memories of the Graveyard of the Dragons flooded through him. That same, glacial fear that he'd had as he'd looked at the Ranger and had seen his own death.

Had he been at full strength, he would have been unable to match his power with that of the Void; since the Demon of the Dark was using to his own ends, there was nothing he could do to stop it!

But even with the whole power of the Void it was still unsatisfied. Draining Venger's own power was a tactical ploy; he would have done the same in its position, to ensure his enemy was unable to retaliate.

But draining the power of the boy was different. The Demon was taking his life-force away to add to its own. That was all it wanted: _Power._

This was a familiar battle; a battle for power, as with Kelek. It was the only thing the Demon seemed interested in.

Even though the situation was perilous, Venger had still felt some small pleasure at the Ranger's predicament. He had glanced up, to see the Ranger standing fearlessly, firing at the Demon, distracting it from its final purpose in his own destruction. Sacrificing himself to save his Arch-Enemy!

Unbridled, uncontrollable rage filled had Venger as he looked at the young man. How dare he! HOW DARE HE PRESUME SO MUCH!

Then Venger had looked more carefully.

He was wrong… the Ranger was firing at the Portal…

Green, sickly magic from the Demon caught the Ranger and he fell, the Bow clattering to the ground beside him.

The Thief screamed. The Barbarian and the Magician just stood there.

The Portal… 

It was the Cavalier who reacted; with a feral cry like that of a true Knight, the young man ran forward at the Demon. The Shield glowed with a brilliant white light.

It was the catalyst the other children needed.

But it was useless.

Venger knew it. They would merely destroy themselves in the effort.

The Portal… 

Was that the Ranger's plan; to destroy the Portal? How had the Ranger conceived of such a foolhardy, dangerous, and wasteful idea! The portal was everything they had ever dreamed of. It would send them back, to the correct place and the correct time. And they were trapped in Ur if they didn't use it.

Yet the Ranger was still ready to risk all for the good of the others; ready to destroy anything, even their only way out…

Venger frowned. Was that the secret of their success? Was that why he never seemed to win against them? The Ranger was ready to give everything to stop the Demon; the way home, his life, the lives of his friends.

He looked at the children with a new understanding. This quality, this need to do "right" was something they all shared. He had seen it before, but he had never really understood what it meant. Until now.

The Demon was looking at the fallen Ranger, as the magic consumed him.

While it was concentrating on the Young One, the Arch-Mage could act one more time. He knew what to do; it would be relatively straightforward. His hatred of the Young Ones, and their Leader in particular, still burned as brightly. But there would be other times to defeat them.

If he was going to act, it had to be now.

_If..._

* * *


	10. The Point of No Return

Chapter 10

The Point of No Return

_How odd,_ mused Thom. _How odd to have seen both the beginning and the ending._

That long-past but glorious day, as the Great City of Ur had sunk beneath the sands for the first time, he had taken the decision to stay. He had never regretted it. He had been clever. Though they had called him a parasite, he had had the last laugh. After all the effort, not to mention power and magic, that the Kings, Queens and Magicians had put into this City, it was he who had survived! To Thom, it was a source of great pride.

Now it was _his_ City.

He had come there over a thousand years before, drawn to its power and magic in the days when people still walked its streets. They Kings had thought the magic was never ending.

Though the thousands of years it had stood as a bulwark against evil, the power and the majesty had seeped into its very stonework. And all the great and good passed through here, leaving in their wake wisps of knowledge and power that fed off each other, and grew.

But when the Demon was banished and the City passed into myth, its magic slowly faded. But he was still the same, and his senses were not blinded by the receding power for long. He could sense the movement of others around his City, he could feel the ebb and flow of life everywhere within it. And when anyone new arrived, he could sense that too.

Mostly parties of Adventurers came to loot as much as they could. Within a few centuries, the Ratmen had come from the North, lycanthropes cursed with the urge to destroy. Why they stayed in the destroyed city was a mystery to Thom. But stay they did, and they multiplied every time more treasure hunters came to visit Ur. Few escaped their packs.

They never bothered Thom. They didn't _dare_.

He flitted around the abandoned City as he pleased, always searching for _more_. More books, more magic, or just more…

But there was always one thing he could never find.

He had spent hours in front of the pictures and statues that Marduk had made, admiring them, decoding them. He knew where the pieces were, but he could never get them, no matter how he tried. The Key. He wanted the Key. He wanted the Portal open. That the Demon would emerge from its imprisonment was of no importance.

The Portal was all he cared about. All the knowledge he had accrued over the centuries was as nothing to what he _could_ have, if he managed to open the Portal.

The first time he'd tried, he had miscalculated. The Demon he had invited had been stupid; and Thom had missed the chance to get to the Portal. Worse, that loathsome Knight had bisected the Key, and it had been hidden where only the good or the pure could get too. And Thom was neither.

But he was prepared to wait. The Portal was worth waiting a thousand years for. It was worth waiting a lifetime for.

Each time the City reappeared there were always a few vagabonds desperate enough to enter, though the number had been fewer these past times.

He had barely noticed as those children had entered the Gate, but Venger was different. Of all who had dared to pass Ur's Front Gate, Venger was by far the most powerful and he lit up Thom's senses. He had been drawn to the Arch-Mage, as a moth to a roaring fire.

Thom had watched him for a while, and noted how the Arch-Mage had followed the young humans from an inconspicuous distance. Intrigued, Thom had been stunned to discover what they were. They were Pure of Heart, each and every one of them!

_Pure of Heart._ After all these years…

Thom had watched them too, noting their weapons of power. They smelt of the old Dungeonmaster; Thom was not surprised that the old man had remembered about the City. He still had an old score to settle with the Dungeonmaster, too, and tricking his pupils would be a good start to his revenge.

More than that, it was obvious what the old man was up to. Children, Pure of Heart; there could only be one reason for their presence. The Cenotaph… _and what lay inside._

Knowing that, how could he not go to meet them?

It had been painfully obvious that the youngsters had no idea who he was; or they wouldn't have let him "_help_"! But then, even his own reputation had passed into legend and there were few who knew him now. That didn't matter.

For a short while, they had provided ample amusement; he enjoyed watching them struggle along, bravely facing all the petty trials that the other Knights had put in place.

And as time went on, and they were successful in their quest, Thom realised that this was going to be his chance. His _only_ chance. Never again would those so pure, with such a destiny before them come to the City of Ur! It was a struggle not to reveal too much, so as they began to suspect. He could smell their doubt growing with every step forward, but their desire to complete their quest was strong enough to overcome it.

He had always planned on deserting them; it was merely a question of when.

In the end, they were all too easy to out-pace on the stairs, and he waited for them in his favourite alcove, the one when he had sat, staring at the Locked Portal for decades.

This time, as he looked at the huge stone arch and the wrought gates, he could barely contain his excitement. It was finally going to be open.

The showdown with the Arch-Mage had been fascinating, but was just a delay. It was the Portal they had all come for and he could barely contain himself as the squabble between Venger and the children played out. It was stupid, and a waste of time; they could do no harm to each other and neither could win that game. Though the children may not know their destiny, surely Venger had begun to suspect!

Finally, after what seemed like an endless wait, Venger used the Key and released the Demon.

Thom had wisely kept out of sight. Though he had let the Demon into Ur initially, it owed him no allegiance. Besides, it was more than likely to have been driven mad by its captivity and not know friend from foe!

The speed at which the Demon defeated the Arch-Mage was surprising; Venger had underestimated the Portal's creator. The Portal was never meant to be reopened.

Suffused with the power of the Void, the Demon was so much stronger than before.

And it seemed that Venger had met his destruction; and there would be no need of redemption after all!

But then those children stepped in. In spite of himself, he was fascinated by the conflict.

_What was it that he found so unnerving about the six of them?_

No! It didn't matter. The Demon was moving from the Portal.

It would soon be his chance.

* * *

Eric tried not to think about what had happened to Hank. 

He didn't dare turn round, in case his resolve failed. He could barely even think straight.

How could they hope to defeat this Demon? It had taken out Venger in less time than it took him to eat a hot dog! He wasn't even sure what he was doing. Well, he was running; he has holding up the Shield, but other than that…

What am I gonna do? I need a plan, at least an idea! Hank would have known. 

But Hank was in very deep trouble. He had to help, somehow.

As Eric ran forward, he discovered he was heading straight towards the Demon, and straight towards the sparkling, glowing surge of green magic.

Was he really gonna do what he thought he was gonna do?

Oh, crap… 

Yes he was.

_Oh, crap…!_

* * *

At first, Diana couldn't believe what she was seeing! 

Eric rushed forward without hesitation, and all the Acrobat could do was stand there with her mouth open in shock.

It took her a few second to recover and realise that she had to move too.

She wasn't gonna let him fight that thing all on his own! She had to help him! She couldn't just let him run out there all alone, he would be an easy target for that Demon. And besides, life would be unbearable if he didn't get himself killed and actually _saved _Hank! They would never hear the end of it.

She actually smiled as she ran forward too, seeing the image of the boastful Cavalier clearly in her mind.

The Acrobat suspected that Eric didn't have a clue what to do; neither did she, but she was gonna help him, and help Hank, any way she could. If Eric could make up a plan as he went along, then so could she!

Her Javelin was glowing brightly as she raced to catch up with Eric. But for all her speed she was too slow. The Cavalier reached the magic that was engulfing Hank first.

The Shield caught the green magic and pushed it aside, away from the stricken Ranger, but Eric buckled under the sudden strain. It was obvious much more difficult than he'd anticipated. Her heart leaped in a wrenching, but familiar way. She wasn't gonna let him go down, not alone anyway!

With all her strength, she hurled he Javelin directly into the green magic, towards the Demon's face. It crackled as it entered the flames, but wasn't deflected from its course. Obviously, a single Javelin strike wasn't going to help _that_ much, but it was just enough to buy Eric a little time.

The Demon hissed in pain, and the magic wavered for a moment. As Diana rushed past to collect her falling Javelin, Eric straightened, lifting his Shield up higher.

Behind him, Hank stirred slightly, now free of the life-draining magic and safe under the protection of the Shield, and the Acrobat mentally gave a sigh of relief. _He was gonna be ok… _Well, assuming they survived all this!

Still running at top speed, she took a fleeting glance round.

Whatever her and Eric did, it was just a temporary measure. They needed help! Surely one of the others could think up something!

Nearby, the Demon shifted. It gave a loud, ferocious rumble and turned towards her. She almost missed her step as the huge creature glared at her with an intense hatred.

Now she was the one in trouble. Eric, the closest one to her, was still protecting Hank but struggling against more magic. For a moment, she though she saw him grin at her.

She looked round at the others.

Whatever they were gonna do, there had better do it quickly!

* * *

Sheila was the first one to reach Hank, now he was free of that terrible magic. He looked awful, almost white and he was shaking. The emotions that were bottled tightly up inside her threatened to burst out, and she knew they would if she spoke. She couldn't let herself break down. Not now. 

Though she didn't take off her Cloak, the Ranger definitely knew she was there, as he looked up towards her. Unable to stop herself, she touched his sweat-mated hair gently.

'Por… tal…' he croaked. 'Destr… roy…'

His eyelids flickered slightly, showing what great strain it was to speak.

'Yes, Hank.'

She smiled at him, even though he couldn't see her, not needing any more to be said. She didn't ask his for explanations, and she didn't need to be told any more information. She trusted him with her life.

As much as she would have given her soul to stay with him, he'd told her what to do. The Thief glanced up from the stricken Ranger and caught sight of what she was looking for: Her brother, and the Club!

* * *

Presto knew that, for all their efforts and bravado, there was no way Eric and Diana could stand up to that Demon-thing for longer than a few seconds. 

He had never seen magic like that before, not even from Venger. It was thick and menacing and _nasty!_

It was like liquid oil, the way it coiled around Hank; it seemed to be seeping into him in a way that made Presto squirm. Magic like that was powerful, and dangerous, and almost impossible to defeat.

His Hat was already in his hand, his fingers poise to wave over it, but he wasn't quite sure what to do. _How do you combat something so powerful?_ (Something clever. Something powerful! Something… quickly!)

The Hat would probably know what to do, or do something, anyway. His hit rate was getting better, but there were still an alarming number of times that it went wrong. If it went wrong now…

_That's not the point!_ he reminded himself. _I have to help Diana and Eric! _(Better do it quickly!)

But instead of making magic then and there, something attracted his attention. The Barbarian was fairly close beside him, and the young boy suddenly whipped round, as if something had jumped out at him.

Then Bobby tapped the Club on the ground and it glowed brightly. He was looking at the Portal. Presto was about to step forward when suddenly, a massive burst of red magic exploded past him.

The was only one person it could have dome from… _Venger!_

* * *

It was clear to the Arch-Mage that the children would not give up, and had no fear of their own destruction. 

True, he had hesitated, but that was just for effect. If they had guessed how close he was to total defeat, maybe they would not have been so honourable!

Even so, he didn't use all his power, but just enough to get the Demon's attention and cause it the maximum amount of pain. It roared in fury, and staggered towards him, magic flailing out behind it, stepping even further away from the Portal.

At the distraction, Venger saw the young Barbarian race forward.

He smiled. They were so predictable!

* * *

Bobby didn't stop to ask dumb questions. Sheila had told him what to do. 

He was gonna get some payback for Hank!

He was gonna show that Demon what sort of damage a kid with a magic Club could _really_ do!

And he would enjoy it!

* * *

Presto recoiled from the magical blast the slammed into the Demon. He caught a glimpse of Bobby hurtling towards the Portal with his Club glowing ferociously. 

But whatever the Barbarian did was gonna be too late for Diana and Eric.

The Demon, furious and seemingly in pain, lashed out at whatever was nearest. Diana dived out of the way, but Eric was still protecting Hank (who was being helped up by some invisible "force"), and the Cavalier didn't dare move. Instead he raised his Shield higher, as the Demon brought its armoured fist crashing down.

The Hat was in his hand, Presto wasn't sure exactly what to do, but he knew he had to do something!

He closed his eyes, lifted the Hat and hoped.

* * *

Eric braced himself for the end. 

There was no escape, even if he could get up off the ground, his legs were shaking so much that he'd never be able to run.

Then something swept round him, like the rush of floodwater. It was iridescent white mist, insubstantial, _pointless_, just a shroud to hide his fate.

The Demon's fist smashed against the mist, but the came to a shuddering halt a few feet about the Shield. The Demon roared again, this time it was pure anger.

Shocked and relieved, Eric managed to glance round, and the sight behind him almost made him drop his weapon.

Presto was holding the Hat in one hand and magic was pouring out of it in torrents, sending waves of magical mist out over the room. It seemed almost as it it were alive.

Eric couldn't take his eyes off Presto. The power he was generating was phenomenal! He'd never seen anything like it! And, most amazingly, Presto looked like he was in complete control. He had his eyes closed, it was almost as though he was sleeping; so peaceful and serene. Uni was hiding behind him, looking up at the Magician with adoration on her face.

The Cavalier had no idea how long he stood watching his friend. He would probably have stared all day, but suddenly, the floor collapsed underneath him.

* * *

Diana managed to move fast enough. She had seen Eric stare at Presto, she had seen (almost) everyone stare as well. But she had noticed Bobby still running unheeded towards the Portal, swinging his Club with all his might. 

At the weapon struck the Portal, the whole room seemed to quiver in shock, and everyone else was knocked off their feet.

But Diana used the Javelin and her natural agility to help her jump, and regain her footing near a wall, where the tremors seemed to be less severe.

The Demon cried out again, but this time it was filled with fear.

Behind it, the huge Portal was rocking slowly back and forwards, the stream of green magic coiling in loops on the floor. The stone archway began to crack.

_It's gonna fall!_ she thought in panic.

The Demon seemed to reel backwards. The Portal was gonna collapse on top of it!

But that wasn't the only thing the falling Portal was gonna get: Eric and Hank were in the way too!

She made a split second decision, and ran back towards her friends.

* * *

Sheila had Hank under his arms when the Club-induced earthquake hit. They both fell to their knees and Hank slid out of her grip, back to the floor. 

As she looked round, she saw the Demon fall backwards, and the Portal teetering above them. It was gonna fall and they would be caught in the rubble.

In a dead panic, she yanked Hank to his feet, finding a strength in her fear that she never knew she had. Slipping under Hank's arm, she pulled him forward. She could hear the Portal beginning to crumble.

The cracking noise was growing, and there was nothing they could do to stop it.

It was gonna fall… it was gonna be close…

* * *

Exhausted, and gasping for breath, Presto lowered the Hat and opened his eyes, just in time to see the Portal tip forward. 

_There's nothing I can do_ (I'm so tired. I'm empty). _I feel terrible._

Hank was being dragged forward by Sheila, who's Cloak had been pulled back. Diana had the Cavalier by one arm and was helping him out of the way. Hank and Sheila were closest to him, but moving more slowly than Diana and Eric. Bobby, his work done, had already dived out of the way.

Presto watched the Portal collapse, hoping that he could stay upright for long enough. For him, it happened in slow motion.

The Portal finally overbalanced, and the stones started to crumble as it slid forward. The raging maelstrom of magic that was the Gateway to the Void beyond came down virtually on top of the Demon, sucking it back into its prison with a satisfying slurp. There was a flash of blinding magic and suddenly, the Portal was gone.

Then there came the rain of stone. Presto realised it wasn't just the arch that was collapsing, it was the whole of the back wall.

'Look out!' he heard someone cry.

But he didn't run, though he felt like he should. He just stood still and watched the stones thunder to the ground, burying the Locked Portal under a huge mountain of stone. _It's gone._ (We're never gonna get out of here now). _It's gone._

The dust settled, and Presto looked round to his friends.

They were all ok. Battered, bruise, exhausted and covered in dust, but all ok.

They had won, but they had lost.

They'd defeated the Demon, but they'd lost their only way out. It was nearly dawn, and there was no way to out of Ur in time.

He sighed. They were never gonna get home, they were…

Then he saw Venger.

* * *

The Arch-Mage was standing at the edge of the destruction. And in his hand was a bright glowing red fireball! 

The disorientating fog around Hank was lifting, and the room was sliding back into focus. He wasn't lost; not yet anyway.

The Portal was gone, and with it their chance to get out. Sheila was beside him. His friends were all close by and they still had their weapons. He looked back to the where the Portal had been, a cold, sinking feeling in his heart. They were trapped.

But Venger was looking at them; or specifically he was looking at the Bow, a mixture of lust and rage and longing on his face. Venger wanted the weapons badly. He had tasted their power, he knew what they could do, and what he could accomplish with them in his control.

But both Hank and Venger also knew he couldn't win, not at the moment. The greater parts of his powers had been used against the Demon. The kids may be exhausted as well, but they could still put up a decent fight.

They stared at each other. The Arch-Mage gave a slow, sly smile.

Suddenly, magic still playing at his fingertips, Venger stepped forward and the Ranger realised what he intended to do. He wasn't gonna destroy them. He was going to save them!

Hank's jaw dropped in surprise, just as the wailing, mournful ringing spread through the chamber. It was dawn. There was no more time, as Ur was going to sink back into the sand.

The Arch-Mage sent his magic towards them. It was harsher than Dungeonmaster's, or Presto's, but Hank could feel the raw power coursing over his body dragging him out of Ur and away into the red light of the dawn.

* * *

For Venger, the decision had been easy. 

If he had wanted the weapons, he would have to fight for them, and Venger had no intention of waiting for another sixty-seven years until Ur returned. He wanted the Realm, and he wanted it quickly. So his only chance was to save the lives of his young enemies.

_Yes, it was an easy decision._

He left them surprised and extremely disorientated by the Gatestone as the broken, grey city of Ur shimmered and faded back from whence it came. Glancing down at the Young Ones, the Arch Mage allowed himself the luxury of a gloating smile, knowing how they would hate to be in his debt, and he looked at the Ranger's shocked expression with glee.

Then he sent the red, crackling fire around himself, and vanished.

* * *

The kids just looked round at each other, and Hank looked at each of his friends, recognising the looks. From the brink of defeat, they had been saved. The relief within the group was almost physical. Once more they had lost the chance to get home, but at least they were till alive. Thanks to Venger. 

But they were free, that was all that really mattered.

They were silent for a long, long time.

But it was the Cavalier, predictably enough, that spoke first.

'Be careful who you help!' mimicked Eric sourly. 'Huh! Lost and found and neither! I suppose that's his kind of sick joke! We were lost, Venger was found and…'

'And who'd have thought we'd help Venger!' interrupted Diana.

Hank shuddered, remembering the look Venger had given him.

It wasn't as if they hadn't done it before, after all Venger would have been history if Demodragon had been allowed to continue its rampage. But this time it felt different. They didn't just help Venger, they'd had to help him to get out alive. It was difficult to put into words. It just felt weird. And questions echoed at the back of Hank's mind: was that what Dungeonmaster had wanted? And if so, why…?

'What about Thom?' asked Presto.

The other kids seemed disinterested in their one-time guide through the city or Ur. Hank himself had barely given a second thought to the creature. It was impossible to guess what it wanted, and it had last been seen skulking in the shadows by the Portal.

'But' said Sheila suddenly, 'he must have still been in there.'

The Cavalier snorted.

'Good riddance!' he said sourly. 'That little creature was nothing but trouble!'

'Meah!' echoed Uni.

The Cavalier turned on his heel, heading East towards the rising suns and a brand new day in the Realm.

'But we couldn't have found the Portal without him,' Sheila reminded him.

'So what! A fat lot of good it did us! Hank almost got barbequed!' Eric called back over his shoulder.

And that seemed to be the end of it, except…

'I wonder what happened to him,' Sheila murmured.

Hank had no answer, and no one else seemed to hear her.

* * *

NOTHING! 

It had all been for nothing!

His plans, his careful schemes were all for nothing, nothing, _NOTHING_!

Thom was weak and disorientated from his hurried escape, almost unable to believe what had happened.

The City, once so full of life, had ached to be released. It had called out to those who passed, luring them inside with the faint hope that one day the curse would be gone and it could be free. Now its call had been heard.

As the Portal collapsed the City itself gave an audible sigh of release.

He had not waited to see the Demon's destruction. When the children had started to fight back, Thom had known all was lost. He had fled; he had run from the City that had been his personal playground for the best part of one thousand years without a second thought, though he was as close to despair as he had ever been.

The Portal was gone.

The Key was gone.

The Demon was gone.

The Portal was gone.

Outside the Gate, he paused, looking back at Ur as it began to crumble, its towers and arches and builds started to slide towards one another. Then its magic took over and the whole City drifted away, as a sandstorm covers the sky. Within a few moments it was gone.

Slowly, he took a deep breath. He had seen the beginning and the end. The Portal was completely destroyed. There was nothing he could do to change that.

So now it was time to do something new. He would adapt. There would be new Demons to serve, new knowledge to seek out in this changed and volatile Realm.

As he looked out across the sand to the mountains beyond, the age-old anger grew inside him. The Dungeonmaster had waited so very long for these children, and there was no doubt now that they would succeed in the task they were brought here for. But the old man had made a grave error in sending them to Ur. With the portal gone, Thom had no reason to stay within the confines of the city.

And now he would make it his personal business to ensure that, whatever fate eventually befell those young children, they would pay for his defeat today.

Yes, the children would pay dearly.

And so would Venger!

* * *

The End.

* * *

Author's Notes.

On Bits Belonging To Someone Else.

I can't remember them all at the moment, but the main ones are -  
The real city of Ur is the capital of ancient Assyria, in the middle-east.  
Thom is named after a character in the Fighting Fantasy Gamebook "Deathtrap Dungeon".  
The Rocks Of Resonance appear with the permission of Rana Kane.

On Thanks

So many reviews! So much attention! I thank each and every one of you because it has been wonderful getting so much feedback.

* * *

Next. 

Double Trouble

In the Shadow Mountains, Dungeonmaster sends the Kids to find the Orion Lance which can "point the way home". But someone else is after the lance, and Presto soon discovers that looks can be deceiving.

Also Showing –

I have put up an Alternative Version of the episode "The Traitor", where Hank isn't the one with all the problems!


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